I'm not posting this to cause a debate-just another side of the story.
I think there is more to this story then we have the facts on. This happened in a middle school. There is NO reason to have this permanent marker there. The students know the policy, yet this boy was still using the marker. He tried to hide the marker when the teacher asked for it. Hiding the making and not willing to give it to her was probably a huge Red flag to the teacher. If the marker had "bleed" through the paper it means the desk was marked up. Somebody will have to scrub that desk clean and you can bet it will not be the custodian, it will be the teacher. It should have been the student.
If you have ever been up close and personal with the door to your classroom, a bathroom that will be closed until it can be repainted, the walls of your school, the floor, or your car covered with filthy hurtful permanent words you might think differently.
Perhaps this could have been handled in a different way and we really don't know all the facts. I'm just sharing another side to this problem.