What Did You Learn at School Today?

Aaron Lawton, 11, said he thought his teacher was just kidding when he told him, “If you miss an assignment, the whole class gets to deck you.” But a month later, when the Franklin Township, N.J., sixth-grader was late on a homework assignment, math teacher Maxie Rivers allegedly lined up the students and had them take turns hitting him. “Some of the punches were hard, some were soft and some were in between,” the boy said. Rivers’ attorney said the beating was “light-hearted” and that the kids only “tapped him kiddingly,” but a doctor found multiple bruises. Hillcrest School officials suspended the teacher with pay while they investigate the incident. (AP) ...Somehow it seems fitting that “The School of Hard Knocks” is in New Jersey.