Another Dead Branch On The Tree of Liberty

[theGinsue]

School Officials in Mass. Town Won't Let Students Recite Pledge of Allegiance



By Todd Starnes
Published June 29, 2010
| FOXNews.com
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When Sean Harrington entered his freshman year at Arlington High School, he noticed something peculiar: There were no American flags in the classrooms, and no one recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

So Harrington enlisted the aid of his fellow students, and now, three years later, they have succeeded in getting flags installed in the classrooms. But the pledge still will not be recited.

The Arlington, Mass., school committee has rejected the 17-year-old's request to allow students to voluntarily recite the Pledge of Allegiance, because some educators are concerned that it would be hard to find teachers willing to recite it, according to a report in the Arlington Patch.

Harrington had presented school officials with a petition signed by 700 people, along with letters of support from lawmakers including Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.

But the request to have the pledge recited failed when the committee's vote ended in a 3-3 tie.

"I was really heartbroken," Harrington told FOX News Radio. "It's hard to think that something so traditional in American society was turned down."

His fight has received quite a bit of support from the community. "When I was going to school, it was an honor and a privilege to pledge allegiance to the flag," Francis De Guglielmo, 55, told the Patch. He called the ban an "absolute travesty" and a "disgrace."

Harrington, who will be a senior in the fall, said he will continue to fight. "I'm not a person who quits and I don't back down. It's a very righteous cause and needs to be followed through until the end."

Some committee members voiced concerns about forcing people to do something that might violate their beliefs – including religious beliefs. Among the no-votes was committee member Leba Heigham.

"Patriotism is a very personal thing for all of us, but I do not think it is in the school committee's best interest to mandate that any of our employees recite the pledge," she told the Patch.

Harrington said the recitation would have been strictly voluntary.

"If we can't find one teacher who is willing to say the pledge, then the system we have is cracked," he told FOX News Radio, noting that a number of teachers signed his petition.

He said the school's ban on the pledge sends the wrong message. "It tells me that we've basically cast aside what our country is founded on," he said. "It's saying that we don't really care, and it's sad."

Arlington's superintendent of schools did not return a call for comment.


Makes me want to puke.

Discussion?!

[funkfool]

This is what is killing the American spirit...
Not gonna stand for it.


I'll craft a nicely worded letter expressing my disapproval of the policy and send it off to these folks...
I'm sure they will see my reasoning and come around right quick...

(Especially if they start getting letters, faxes and emails from THOUSANDS of folks across this countery!)

Administration


Charles A. Skidmore (http://www.arlington.k12.ma.us/ahs/announcements/principalspage/index.asp) (781.316.3590) Principal (http://www.arlington.k12.ma.us/ahs/announcements/principalspage/index.asp)

Mary Villano (781.316.3605) Assistant Principal

http://www.arlington.k12.ma.us/ahs/

http://www.arlington.k12.ma.us/home/

[jim02]

Our schools are so far lost and its because most of the teachers are socialists.
This story even acknowledges my observation "school committee has rejected the 17-year-old's request to allow students to voluntarily recite the Pledge of Allegiance because some educators are concerned that it would be hard to find teachers willing to recite it,"

I dont know what the future holds for The Constitution of The United States but I think Obama is the best thing to turn this country around and save it.
If Obama was not elected we would not have been able to have such a united front and the revival to support for The Constitution that we are now seeing.
I think that after 2010 and 2012 the Democrats will be voted out and loose power, and we will go back down the slow track to hell we have been on for a long time because everyoone will think we have won.
I think Obama needs to be elected again in 2012 for people to really become galvenized and a real political revolution to take place that will put us back on the correct path and drive off this socialist revolution that has taken hold.

[BigBear]

So teh reason I can't find a teaching job in my feild is because I'm NOT a socialist?.... hmmm, can I sue on discrimination?! Lol.

[jim02]

Sorry BigBear you dont have a case, you no longer fit the critera needed to be a teacher, by supporting The Constitution you go against all the principals of being a teacher. [ROFL1]

What kind of teacher are/were you? (primary school, college, technical. etc)

[BigBear]

lol, crap.

Liscensed for k-12 plus collegiate work with my MM. Music. Really want to work with HS and College. I have no desire to babysit youngsters.

Not a teacher now. Working at a Utilities co.

[theGinsue]

So teh reason I can't find a teaching job in my feild is because I'm NOT a socialist?.... hmmm, can I sue on discrimination?! Lol.


Sorry BigBear you dont have a case, you no longer fit the critera needed to be a teacher, by supporting The Constitution you go against all the principals of being a teacher. [ROFL1]

What kind of teacher are/were you? (primary school, college, technical. etc)

Sex Ed - Substitute

[ROFL1]

[jim02]

Sex Ed - Substitute

[ROFL1]


Now thats funny.

I do now recall seeing in another post that you were music teacher.

[cowboykjohnson]

They should be hung for treason!

[BigBear]

Sex Ed


They should be hung for treason!


I see what you did there.....

[Beer]

This thread is going horribly wrong...

[two shoes]

One only has to look as far as the charter schools to see that not all is lost. My soon to be 3rd grader is required to read:

"If You Were There When They Signed the Constitution"
Levy, ISBN: 9780590451598

2nd grade is required to read:

"The Constitution of the United States"
Taylor-Butler, ISBN: 9780531147795

4th grade:

"In Their Own Words: Paul Revere"
Sullivan, ISBN: 9780439095525

Each class (1st-12th) is required to read something about the Constitution during the break.

[theGinsue]

Now thats funny.

I do now recall seeing in another post that you were music teacher.

Music, sex ed, what's the diff?


They should be hung for treason!

Haven't you heard? Treasonous behavior is vogue (at least from our leadership) and is not only encouraged but quite expected.


One only has to look as far as the charter schools to see that not all is lost. .
.
.
.
Each class (1st-12th) is required to read something about the Constitution during the break.


I'm afraid that this is just setting those children up for failure. They will possess a belief system and values that are already being classed as out-dated and obsolete. If things continue to digress as I expect, these children will experience an outrageous sense of frustration.

[jim02]

Two shoes,
I'm glad to see one school doing something, our son goes to a charter school and they are not following the same path that yours is.
I do require our son to read The Constitution, we do a little at a time and talk about it then when he brings up something stupid he learned somewhere, I help him understand whats wrong with what he was told and show him how The Constitution fits in.
He wanted copies to take to school and give to his teacher and class, so he has his own to keep in his bag.

[theGinsue]

He wanted copies to take to school and give to his teacher and class, so he has his own to keep in his bag.

Careful. He might be expelled for "disrupting learing" or some such thing for distributing a document considered to be propaganda of the republic's regime.





\/ \/ \/ \/ Now you've gotta love that enthusiasm! (Post below) \/ \/ \/ \/

[Justin]

They should be hung for treason!YEAH! AND THEN THEIR CORPSES SHOULD BE RUN OVER BY TED NUGENT DRIVING A TANK WHILE LADY GAGA SINGS THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER!

AMERICA, FUCK YEAH!

[cowboykjohnson]

YEAH! AND THEN THEIR CORPSES SHOULD BE RUN OVER BY TED NUGENT DRIVING A TANK WHILE LADY GAGA SINGS THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER!

AMERICA, FUCK YEAH!Lol let uncle Ted string em up.

[BigBear]

Music, sex ed, what's the diff?


Musicians actually know about sex....

HAHAHA. [Beer]


Back to topic: I contacted the Heritage Foundation years ago and they sent me like 300 copies of the constitution. A few friends and I sat in the commons at my undergrad during one of those "fairs" they have and handed them ALL out. We were never accosted and a few actually thanked us..... However, we did see a lot of them left behind and in the trash....

[TS12000]

The fact that it says multiple teachers signed the petition but the response was "none of the teachers want to do it" explains it all. All these folk have become deny, deny, deny types because they see it works. I can't hear you so I must be right [NoEvil]. Maybe we should go back to a society that actually fires/disposes of people who are completely worthless.

[two shoes]

Music, sex ed, what's the diff?



Haven't you heard? Treasonous behavior is vogue (at least from our leadership) and is not only encouraged but quite expected.



I'm afraid that this is just setting those children up for failure. They will possess a belief system and values that are already being classed as out-dated and obsolete. If things continue to digress as I expect, these children will experience an outrageous sense of frustration.

Ginsue,

Maybe, but let them take that frustration out in ways that will drive change, what ever they see fit to do... either with a vote or to run for office themselves.


Two shoes,
I'm glad to see one school doing something, our son goes to a charter school and they are not following the same path that yours is.
I do require our son to read The Constitution, we do a little at a time and talk about it then when he brings up something stupid he learned somewhere, I help him understand whats wrong with what he was told and show him how The Constitution fits in.
He wanted copies to take to school and give to his teacher and class, so he has his own to keep in his bag.

jim02,

There is another charter school nearby that is almost there, but not quite as proactive. We had our kids in a private "Christian" school that spoke of morality, citizenship, honesty, integrity, courage, but did little to nothing to instill or promote them. This school puts these principals into action. I have just turned down a job promotion-move because I feel this school can have a huge impact on there lives, more than a pay raise could. I try to do my part at home and it is so nice to have a school that supports the same ideals I cling to.
Detention consists of the kids cleaning the school, vaccuming, trash, mopping... not sitting a room... I love it!