The North Clackamas School distinct has created a program so that kids will stay more organized with a plain plastic binder. So starting school year 2016-2017 students will no longer be allowed to have a zipper binder. My frustration is that plain plastic binders fall apart, and my daughter's teacher said that duct tape and a rubber mallet will be provided to fix a binder that's falling apart, the idea of this is ridiculous! I'm not going to buy 6 binders for my son going into middle school as I know he'll be hard on them. I would rather buy one zipper binder and spend less buying it once for all three years rather than buying several cheep binders. I purchased a zipper binder for my daughter in 6th grade, she has had this binder through her 8th grade year, and she is organized and a honor student. This is not because of the binder she used, it's because she was taught to be organized. What happens when they drop their binder or it is knocked out of their hands? They can't carry backpacks, as backpacks have to stay in their lockers. The students have to carry their binder, so if they drop it or gets knocked out of their hands by another student, then the rings pop and everything goes everywhere. What then? Our kids organized binder is now a mess on the floor because they would have no zipper to hold their work in one place when the binder falls. I believe that education on organization is more effective then micro management and silly rules. We should be more concerned with safety and education for our students, and not what they choose for a binder. The kids who have the habit of not using the rings will still not use them and with no zipper they will more likely loose the work. This is not going to help my students, it is going to hinder them.