In this booklet, the Council of Supervisors and Administrators of the City of New York seeks to offer hope that teachers' and principals' capacity for the reasonable exercise of authority has not been exhausted. There is a body of legal opinion that supports the authority of the principal in disciplinary matters. It is a misconception that a student is deprived of this rights if, as an outcome of an administrative hearing, he is suspended from school or denied further public education. The courts are far from committed to the doctrine that each and every disciplinary decision is subject to trial; the courts do not always see the principal as an adversary in his relationship with students. In the sections on due process, suspensions, free speech, free press, respect for the flag, personal appearance, and searches and seizures, the author suggests that fairness, common sense, and experience remain the staples in school discipline. The courts have not enjoined principals from acting on the belief that parents send children to school to learn and that no learning can be carried on where some students are permitted to prevent others from learning. (Author/JF)