Parents in a Vermont school district say their children are no longer allowed to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
A number of moms and dads staged a protest at Shaftsbury Elementary School demanding to know why the pledge had been given the shaft. In response, the school district summoned the police. And this is why you need to read my new book – to understand how we can take back our schools from the Marxists. Click here to read “Twilight’s Last Gleaming.”
“I think it’s complete disrespect as an American to not want to say the Pledge of Allegiance,” Navy veteran Victor Harwood told the Bennington Banner. “I was brought up to respect the flag. I put my life on the line, like a bunch of these other folks, and they wrote a check too…up to and including their lives. And if people don’t respect the flag, they’re not respecting us at all.”
“It seems like this was a decision that should have been a discussion first,” parent Michael Gardner told the Vermont Digger. “In my mind, this isn’t really any different than banning books.”
Supt. James Culkeen pushed back on that accusation, noting that individual principals “have been empowered to decide if the Pledge of Allegiance would be recited in the individual buildings.”
“On its face, the ‘opt-out’ choice seems reasonable. But as we’ve learned, when students do so, it highlights differences between our kids. It disrupts the community and excludes kids who just want to be a part of their classrooms,” Culkeen told the news organization.
Who in the world would think that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance would “disrupt” a community?
Gardner, a former school board member, told ABC News the school should have been given his 11-year-old daughter the option to say the pledge.
“While I respect where you’re coming from…I’m not sure how else you would define no longer allowing teachers to lead their children in the Pledge of Allegiance,” he said. “I mean, he said ‘no longer permitted.’ Some might interpret that as a ban.”
Gardner added, “In my opinion, banning reasonable free speech is saying the only opinion you agree with is the one that matters, [which is] no different than banning books you may not like. While I may not necessarily like what someone has to say or a particular book in the library, I respect our teachers to use their judgment in how they teach those things.
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