Posted on 06/02/2005 4:50:02 AM PDT by NotchJohnson
GOVERNMENT SCHOOL --- SOLDIERS NOT WELCOME
We talked about this one on the show yesterday, but it didn't make the Nuze. So here we go .. the story of the Anita White Carson Middle School in Greensboro, Greene County, Georgia.
Our cast of characters is as follows:
Matthew Lund, first year teacher Ulrica Corbett, Principal. Zach Richardson, Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps. So .. here's the story, gleaned from the front page of the May 26th edition of Greensboro Herald-Journal.
Matthew Lund and Zach Richardson were college roommates. After college Richard joined the Marines and Lund started teaching. Richardson went to Iraq, Lund to Carson Middle School, there to teach a 6th grade language arts class.
As a class assignment Lund gave his students the opportunity to write a letter to Sgt. Richardson in Iraq. Richardson wrote back and gave the class the names of five other Marines who would like to receive letters. Soon other middle school classes were also sending letters to the Marines in Iraq.
When Sgt. Richardson returned to the United States he told Matthew Lund that he wanted to come to the Carson Middle School to personally thank the students for their support and letters. Lund filled out and submitted a "Resource Visitor or Guest Speaker Form" and submitted it to Principal Corbett. Lund says he never got the form back from Corbett. He says he asked the Principal about the form, and was told that she was not going to look at it.
Lund says that he realized his request to have Sgt. Richardson visit the school was going to be ignored by Ulrica Corbett. He made the decision to proceed with the plans for the visit, a visit that took place, or was to take place on May 23rd, one week before Memorial Day.
When Sgt. Richardson showed up at the Carson Middle School Lund took him to the school's media center to prepare to meet the students. At that point, according to Lund, Principal Corbett called him into the hall and told him that the Marine was not approved to be at the school. Lund told Corbett that the proper form had been submitted and had been ignored. Corbett's response was "that's your problem, not mine." Lund's version of the discussion with Corbett in the hallway suggests that Corbett harbored a great deal of hostility toward Sgt. Richardson and Matthew Lund. She told Lund that the students had not earned the visit from the Marine, and closed the discussion with Lund with the phrase "what part of what we just discussed do you not understand?" She then ordered Matthew Lund to escort Sgt. Richardson off the school campus.
When this story hit the local newspaper Ulrica Corbett thought it best to do a little CYA work. She submitted a written statement to the Herald-Journal in which she stated "My decision not to allow Zach Richardson to speak with the students on Monday came out of my regard for the safety and welfare of our children." What a crock. Is Ulrica Corbett saying that this U.S. Marine who had just spent a year putting his life on the line for his country presented some sort of a threat to the children at the Carson Middle School?
My guess? What we have here is some self-important middle school principal who harbors a dislike, if not an outright hatred, of the American armed forces, and who is steadfastly opposed to our actions in Iraq and quite possibly in Afghanistan. This principal then decided to let her petty prejudices stand in the way of what would have been a memorable and rewarding experience for both Sgt. Richardson and the children of Matthew Lund's 6th grade class. Now that's just a guess. I've received messages that Ulrica Corbett has family members in the military and serving in Iraq. You would have thought that information might have been set forth in her written statement to the newspaper. It wasn't
Corbett is saying that the teacher didn't follow protocol. The newspaper has signed and dated copies of the documentation submitted by Lund. Someone here isn't telling the truth. One thing for sure: Protocol be dammed, Ulrica Corbett could have found a way to allow this soldier to talk to the students who had befriended him. She didn't
This morning the story is getting increased attention. Calls have been coming into the Greene County Schools from across the nation. Superintendent John Jackson has offered a written apology, saying that the situation could have been handled differently. The official story still seems to be that Lund didn't follow the necessary steps to get permission for Richardson's visit. I would like to know a little more about Lund's assertion that Corbett told him that she was simply "not going to look at" the written request, and that this was "(his) problem, not mine." Right now it sounds more like the problem was with Corbett, not Lund. I guess it should be expected that the superintendent would protect an established principal in a controversy with a first year teacher on the way out the door.
Thanks to the Herald-Journal the people of Greene County know just what type of person they have in charge of the education of their children at the Carson Middle School.
Government schools. Gotta love 'em.
Looks like an affirmative action appointed principal hatched out of a liberal seed pod.
She should have kept on going to Massachusetts!
I'd be pretty pissy too, if I was stuck with a name like 'Ulrica'.
This is in my area. Here's an update from the Greene County Republican party (the same county).
BTW - The state superintendent plans on running for Gov next year, as a Dem...
Dear Friends,
The response to my e-mail regarding the active duty Marine who was escorted off Greene County Public School property, has been overwhelming. As of 1:00 today I have received inquiries from countless United States Veterans, local and state community leaders, our own US Congressman, several Ga. State Senators, a Major stationed at the Pentagon, and many, more outraged citizens. I was informed that earlier today this story was discussed at length on a nationally syndicated talk show hosted by Neil Bortz.
How wonderful it is to know that so many of you have been moved by this incident and want to know what you can do to help right this terrible wrong. First, let me tell you that plans are currently under way to bring Sgt. Richardson back to Greene County for a reunion with Mr. Lund's 6th grade class. He will be going off active duty at the end of this month and has agreed to return to Greene County so that we can all have an opportunity to show our support for him and his fellow soldiers. Sgt. Richardson ask if he could bring the other Marines who were stationed with him and who also received letters and carepackages from the students at the Greene County Middle School. I told him we would be honored to host as many Marines as he would care to bring! We intend to show the children of this county that the brave men and women who risk their lives every day so that they can have the freedom to go to school , are welcomed by ALL honorable Americans!
Because of Sgt. Richardson's schedule and those of his fellow Marines we have yet to finalize the date, time, and location for this meeting. But rest assured, as soon as the logistics for this meeting can be worked out I will let all of you know the details.
In the mean time I would encourage you to e-mail the following people and let them know exactly how you feel about the behavior of Middle School Principle, Ms. Ulrica Corbett. This type of arrogance has no place in the Public School System of Georgia or any other state in the union. How dare she deny American school children the privilege and honor of saying "thank you" to a United States Marine.
Kathy Cox-State School Superintendent
E-mail Address(es):
state.superintendent@doe.k12.ga.us
Greene County School Superintendent
john.jackson@greene.k12.ga.us
E-mail Address(es):
john.jackson@greene.k12.ga.us
Carson Middle School Principle
ulrica.corbett@greene.k12.ga...
E-mail Address(es):
ulrica.corbett@greene.k12.ga.us
Nice gratuitous slur on the South. Jerk.
I got a GED when I was 36, and worked while I finished an AA degree. My Daughter sat through so many of my classes that she almost got a diploma, too. I walked in one day, signed up for the GED exam, completed it in 4 hours, and turned out to be the Valedictorian for that year. It is not that I am all that smart, but in the years between when I left high school, and the time I took the exam, the standards slipped drastically. I don't doubt that kids know more today than I learned in school, but,less of it is practical,or useful.
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Let's all keep an eye peeled for links between this principal and Cynthia Tucker at the AJC and Cynthia McKinney who just got back into office. School phone logs might even document a conversation among these.
Three of a kind from Georgia.
Diva, thanks for the ping.
If it were up to me I'd can Ul-racists ass and give her job to Matthew Lund.
Dear Ms. Corbett,
As a mother, veteran, and proud citizen of this nation, I was disappointed to learn that you, as principal of Anita White Carson Middle School, prevented a United States Marine from speaking to 6th graders at your school. I am saddened that you stood in the way of your students meeting Sergeant Richardson, a Marine with whom they had so eagerly corresponded during his tour of duty in Iraq.
News reports suggest a dispute over whether Sergeant Richardson’s visit was properly authorized. Maybe so. But why not allow Sergeant Richardson to speak with the students, while you quietly resolved the issue of authorization? Why your adamant refusal to allow this meeting to occur? Why was the teacher’s paperwork requesting authorization ignored? Why has the superintendent apologized, but not you? It is hard not to draw the conclusion that perhaps your personal feelings regarding the conflict in Iraq, or the War on Terror, or the President, cloud your thinking in this matter. Yet, regardless of your political views, your decision to turn Sergeant Richardson away at the schoolhouse door reflects, at best, a profound lack of judgment.
I hope this e-mail joins thousands of others condemning your actions last week. I further hope that, as a result, you have learned something about the nature of this country and those who support it and its heroes. I only wish that people like you -- who demonstrate an apparent lack of respect for those who would give their very lives for you and the nation they love -- would not have such immense influence on the lives and education of our nation’s children.
Signed with my real name and town
FYI
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Boy, it's a sad thing when a bulletin from the county GOP spells the woman's job title (principal) as "principle." Maybe the person who wrote it went to public skrewls...
I'm sure going to use those addresses, though.
But maybe I'm biased because I was born in Maine...
"My decision not to allow Zach Richardson to speak with the students on Monday came out of my regard for the safety and welfare of our children."
She actually thought that put her in a better light? I guess with the military hating left it would. To me, it makes her look even more horrid. No matter how much the left tries to proclaim their support of the military, usually with the calls "bring them home", they always end up spitting on them.
As for safety, that school was far, far safer with a Marine on campus.
How ironic.
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