School: permission slip required to say pledge of allegiance.

[Danno 1,228]

MASS. SCHOOL REQUIRES PERMISSION SLIPS TO RECITE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

A public school in Brookline, Massachusetts is bringing back the Pledge of Allegiance. Except now, in a move that suggests the recitation and its words are controversial, the school is requiring parents to sign a permission slip so their kids can participate.

“It’s uncomfortable. The pledge is a promise, and I’ve always taught my kids to think very carefully before making any promise. It’s not a decision I want to make for them,” parent Judi Puritz Cook, who has two sons at Devotion School, told the Brookline Tab.

According to a letter sent to parents last week by Principal Gerardo Martinez, the school is implementing the Pledge in order to comply with state law.

“In order to meet the state legal mandate for public schools and to support our learning expectations, I will, once a week, as part of my morning announcements, recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag,” he wrote in the letter. “Under our Constitution, neither teachers nor students can be mandated to participate in this exercise.”

“I urge you to have a conversation as a family to help your children understand why I will be reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and to support them in feeling comfortable and confident in the decision on whether or not to participate,” Martinez added.

According to the Tab, it seems many parents aren’t upset that the school is requiring special permission to recite the Pledge, but rather they are concerned the slips could mean parents are imposing their beliefs on their children.

Superintendent Bill Lupini said that won’t be the case: no student will be compelled to participate or not participate simply based on how a parent filled out a permission slip.

“We’re celebrating diversity and including people… and then to be the one sitting there, waiting for the pledge to finish, [that] doesn’t feel inclusive,” said one parent who checked “No” on the slip. “Yeah, it’s weird. That’s the right word for it.”

The ACLU agrees. “I think that’s really strange that they’d do that… even children don’t lose their right of expression simply by walking into a schoolhouse’s doors,” said ACLU attorney Sarah Wunsch, who lives in Brookline.

“It suggests that this is a decision for parents alone. Are they going to enforce that?” she asked.

Also strange is a breakdown of the Pledge included in the permission slip. It explained every phrase, and what the school thinks it means. Next to the fragment “under God,” the school says, “there is one Supreme entity for every citizen.”

It was later revealed that the principal included that portion without official permission.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Why would a Mexican or Vietnamese who's attending school in the US of A pledge his allegiance to the American Flag? For that very reason, it can't be made mandatory.

[Danno 1,228]

Why would a Mexican or Vietnamese who's attending school in the US of A pledge his allegiance to the American Flag? For that very reason, it can't be made mandatory.

Why would a kid in a wheel chair be forced to run track?

A: he wouldn't and neither would a foreign student be "forced" to say the pledge.

Why would the whole of the students be made to be fill out permission slips to participate in a normal school activity?

If a student has some reason for not saying the pledge (and there are legit reasons) let him sit it out, or....if any waver forms are to be filled out, let the "exceptional case" fill it out.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

MASS. SCHOOL REQUIRES PERMISSION SLIPS TO RECITE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

A public school in Brookline, Massachusetts is bringing back the Pledge of Allegiance. Except now, in a move that suggests the recitation and its words are controversial, the school is requiring parents to sign a permission slip so their kids can participate.

“It’s uncomfortable. The pledge is a promise, and I’ve always taught my kids to think very carefully before making any promise. It’s not a decision I want to make for them,” parent Judi Puritz Cook, who has two sons at Devotion School, told the Brookline Tab.

According to a letter sent to parents last week by Principal Gerardo Martinez, the school is implementing the Pledge in order to comply with state law.

“In order to meet the state legal mandate for public schools and to support our learning expectations, I will, once a week, as part of my morning announcements, recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag,” he wrote in the letter. “Under our Constitution, neither teachers nor students can be mandated to participate in this exercise.”

“I urge you to have a conversation as a family to help your children understand why I will be reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and to support them in feeling comfortable and confident in the decision on whether or not to participate,” Martinez added.

According to the Tab, it seems many parents aren’t upset that the school is requiring special permission to recite the Pledge, but rather they are concerned the slips could mean parents are imposing their beliefs on their children.

Superintendent Bill Lupini said that won’t be the case: no student will be compelled to participate or not participate simply based on how a parent filled out a permission slip.

“We’re celebrating diversity and including people… and then to be the one sitting there, waiting for the pledge to finish, [that] doesn’t feel inclusive,” said one parent who checked “No” on the slip. “Yeah, it’s weird. That’s the right word for it.”

The ACLU agrees. “I think that’s really strange that they’d do that… even children don’t lose their right of expression simply by walking into a schoolhouse’s doors,” said ACLU attorney Sarah Wunsch, who lives in Brookline.

“It suggests that this is a decision for parents alone. Are they going to enforce that?” she asked.

Also strange is a breakdown of the Pledge included in the permission slip. It explained every phrase, and what the school thinks it means. Next to the fragment “under God,” the school says, “there is one Supreme entity for every citizen.”

It was later revealed that the principal included that portion without official permission.

All those polytheists will be pissed!

This mind sound odd to some, but at my school we had two pledge of allegiances. One to the US flag and one to the Christian Flag.

[The_Dude 1,142]

All those polytheists will be pissed!

This mind sound odd to some, but at my school we had two pledge of allegiances. One to the US flag and one to the Christian Flag.

I can remember when I was a freshman in high school, we were required to stand and say the pledge of allegiance. I also remember a half-brained idea by someone that, one day, we would stand for the pledge and hold a fist in the air like Tommie Smith and John Carlos. About 2 dozen people participated and all got suspended. After that, you were required to stand, but not say the pledge.

[Jenn! 918]

School kids saying the pledge of allegiance is an odd thing - how can it be meaningful if they don't even really understand what they are saying. And don't get me started on the "under God" part...

[Obama 2012 1,714]

School kids saying the pledge of allegiance is an odd thing - how can it be meaningful if they don't even really understand what they are saying. And don't get me started on the "under God" part...

blame the commies during the cold war...

[LaL 418]

School kids saying the pledge of allegiance is an odd thing - how can it be meaningful if they don't even really understand what they are saying. And don't get me started on the "under God" part...

they sound like little zombies when reciting it.

[Sgt. McGee 27]

The worst part of the whole thing is the misspelled (or wrong, depending on how you look at it) word "...requires classes to be lead in a group..."

Ok, maybe not the WORST part. But it's pretty embarrassing.

[faust-yusov 103]

If a student has some reason for not saying the pledge (and there are legit reasons) let him sit it out, or....if any waver forms are to be filled out, let the "exceptional case" fill it out.

Or, rather less dogmatically, let those who want to say it be the ones to leave the classroom and do so.

Participation is the active element. It ought to be a case of opt in, rather than expecting one who disagrees to conspicuously "sit out", like some sort of fetid excommunicate.

Edited December 22, 2010 by faust-yusov

[Sgt. McGee 27]

Or, rather less dogmatically, let those who want to say it be the ones to leave the classroom and do so.

Participation is the active element. It ought to be a case of opt in, rather than expecting one who disagrees to conspicuously "sit out", like some sort of fetid excommunicate.

This is goofy. It's a school in the USA. This should NOT have to be an "opt-in" sort of thing if the school/state/whatever decides it's going to be part of the school day. Go to private school, or start your own, if you have an issue with opting out.

[faust-yusov 103]

This is goofy. It's a school in the USA. This should NOT have to be an "opt-in" sort of thing if the school/state/whatever decides it's going to be part of the school day. Go to private school, or start your own, if you have an issue with opting out.

As an affirmation of religious belief and an exaltation of one's nation, it is a statement of faith and political opinion.

Under the First Amendment and the Constitution, it should indeed be an "opt-in sort of thing".

Edited December 23, 2010 by faust-yusov

[james&olya 1,121]

This is goofy. It's a school in the USA. This should NOT have to be an "opt-in" sort of thing if the school/state/whatever decides it's going to be part of the school day. Go to private school, or start your own, if you have an issue with opting out.

Just curious, do you believe in the constitution?

[Obama 2012 1,714]

This is goofy. It's a school in the USA. This should NOT have to be an "opt-in" sort of thing if the school/state/whatever decides it's going to be part of the school day. Go to private school, or start your own, if you have an issue with opting out.

you cannot be serious........

[The_Dude 1,142]

you cannot be serious........

I say that about half the time you post. I don't see what the big deal is about saying the pledge of allegiance. Does it make one person a better American because he says it?