NORTON SHORES, Mich. – Those who believe public school leaders share the philosophy etched onto the plaque at the base of the Statue of Liberty – “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses” – may want to sit down before reading any further.

MLive.com reports Michigan’s Mona Shores school district has given the boot to 18 schools-of-choice students due to behavioral problems and spotty attendance records.

Schools Superintendent Dave Peden said the Mona Shores district doesn’t want to waste time on such “goofy stuff,” adding that it’s the first time the district has uninvited choice students. (The Great Lakes State allows students to enroll in a school outside their home district, pending approval from the new district.)

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Peden acknowledged that Mona Shores officials are also adopting a tougher residency verification process to keep nonresidents out of the district, pending a formal transfer request.

Parents hoping to enroll their kids in Mona Shore Public Schools will have to show a driver’s license or state ID card, along with three utility or tax bills containing a home address within the district’s boundaries, MLive.com reports.

This crackdown is occurring because Mona Shores officials discovered that several highly obnoxious students belonged to the same family – a family that did not have a legal right to utilize the school system. District officials apparently want to punt that troublesome family out of their schools for good.

Why is this story worth reporting to a national audience?

That’s simple: This incident turns the tables on public school apologists who claim that charter schools “cherry pick” their students while government-run schools have to educate whoever comes through the door, no matter what.

That’s about 180 degrees from the truth. In fact, charter school leaders are legally prohibited from only accepting the smart, talented, well-behaved and motivated kids as students and leaving all the tough-to-teach kids for the public schools.

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High-performing charter schools draw from the same pool of students are the public schools do.

This myth of “cherry picking charters” lives on, however, because it makes teacher union and Education Establishment members feel less guilty about the lousy job many government-run schools are doing educating kids. They tell themselves they’re doing the best job they can, given the raw materials they’re forced to work with.

The Mona Shores district isn’t unique; many other public school systems work overtime to keep undesirable “outsiders” from their classrooms. Leaders in such school districts are doing nothing illegal. However, if they also perpetuate the “cherry picking charter” myth, then they are guilty — of projecting their behavior onto others and behaving hypocritically.