Student sues to end summer homework in Wisconsin

MILWAUKEE — A student has sued to end summer homework in Wisconsin, claiming it creates an unfair workload and unnecessary stress.

In the lawsuit, Peer Larson, 17, and his father, Bruce Larson, argue that school officials have no legal authority to make students do homework over the summer because the state-required 180-day school year is over.

"It is poor public policy," Bruce Larson says in the lawsuit. "These students are still children, yet they are subjected to increasing pressure to perform to ever-higher standards in numerous theaters.

"Come summer, they need a break."

But some observers said the schools and courts need a break from lawsuits such as the one brought by the Larsons, who are representing themselves.

"If I were a judge, I would not only dismiss the lawsuit, I'd levy a fine against the father for misusing the courts," said Philip Howard, a lawyer and legal-reform advocate based in New York City and author of the best-seller "The Death of Common Sense."

"Courts are there for serious disputes," Howard said. "If you let everyone who is disgruntled go to court, it just uses up court resources."

The Larsons said that if teachers want to assign homework for summer vacation, the homework should be voluntary and not factored into the student's grade without the student's consent.

"There's not supposed to be any work when someone is on vacation," Peer Larson said.

His summer vacation was stressful, he said, because he had to do math homework in addition to a summer job as a camp counselor that often exceeded 40 hours a week.

School administrators have told the family that honors courses require some summer work.

Whitnall School Superintendent Karen Petric said the district did its best to address the Larsons' concerns. "I strongly believe the district acted appropriately and didn't do anything wrong," she said. "Court is not the place to solve it."

The Larsons filed the lawsuit last week in Milwaukee County Circuit Court. Bruce Larson is president of Larson Chemical in Greendale, Wis.

In addition to Peer Larson's Whitnall High School math teacher, Aaron Bieniek, the lawsuit also names the high-school math department chair, Nancy Sarnow; Whitnall High School Principal Joel Eul; the Whitnall School District; and state Schools Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster.

The lawsuit emanates from a series of assignments that Peer Larson said Bieniek gave him and his classmates at the end of the 2003-04 school year.

Bieniek gave what Peer Larson described as a "presentation" for what students could expect in his honors pre-calculus class in the fall.

"He handed out the homework then," Peer Larson said. "He told us it was available online to download."

Peer Larson said Bieniek told the students that he wanted the homework done at certain points during the summer and that it had to be "postmarked by a certain date."

Material from The Associated Press is included in this report.