Posted on 09/26/2009 7:35:31 AM PDT by RummyChick
September 25, 2009
Dear Burlington Township Families:
By now, we're sure that you are aware of a video placed on the Internet that has been reported heavily by the media. The video is of a class of students singing a song about President Obama.
Over the past two days we have been able to learn more about this situation and would like to provide you with some additional information. The song was one of eight skits performed during a February 2009 program that included second grade classes. Parents attended the program which took place on February 27, 2009. The other skits in the program included Groundhog Day, Chinese New Year, Abraham Lincoln, Valentine's Day, George Washington, Mardi Gras, and Dental Health Month. The song about President Obama was in recognition of Black History Month. We have been informed that the lyrics of the song were sent home with the children in advance of the assembly, which was the teacher's normal procedure. There were no concerns or complaints prior to, during, or after the program.
On March 23, 2009, an author visited the Young School as part of the school's Women's History Month recognition. As is usual procedure, parents were notified prior to the visit and invited to attend. The author presented two assemblies during which she read from two of her books. She also met with the Teen Book Club at our high school and did an evening book signing for parents and children. The author was accompanied by two individuals. After the first assembly on March 23rd, the class that performed the song at the February assembly about President Obama provided a special performance for the author, since one of the books she wrote was about Barack Obama. We were informed by a representative of the author that one of the individuals who accompanied the author video recorded the performance. School staff had no knowledge of the recording.
We have learned that the video was posted on the author's website without district approval or knowledge. It appears that another party copied the video from the author's website and placed it on YouTube. We have been informed that the video has been removed from the author's website.
Our district takes measures to ensure that our children's privacy is protected. We are carefully evaluating what occurred and will implement any additional needed procedures to prevent children's images in school from being publicly posted without permission. We will also provide reasonable direction and guidelines so that classroom activities will not give the appearance of promoting a particular political perspective.
We have taken additional measures over the past two days to assure the safety and security of children and staff. We have worked very closely with our police department and school resource officers. We have had a police presence on our campuses and have increased administrative presence at the B. Bernice Young School. News crews have been kept off campuses. There were no incidents in our schools as a result of this matter. Our children, staff, and schools are safe and secure. We are working with our police department to have the video removed from YouTube.
We wish to assure our community that the administration and Board of Education will carefully study this matter. We appreciate and value input from you, the residents of Burlington Township, and will continue to listen to your opinions on this matter. If you have any questions, please contact me directly.
I agree...that creeps me out as well. I like posting the equal work line because I believe the Teacher claimed the kids wroth the lyrics themselves. Which I think is patently absurd...
While I agree with you that we must fight the Marxists on every front, I disagree with you that we can “take back” our government schools.
Please let me explain:
Government schools **are** socialism and always have been. From the moment the first child stepped foot in a government school in the mid-1800s, children have learned that it is OK for the government to take money from their neighbors to pay for a service that their parents want for free. Then to compound this daily object lesson in socialism, teachers for 13 years teach the children it is their **right** to have the government threaten their neighbor with police action so they can have tuition-free education.
Government schools **are** socialism. How can you “take back” and fix socialism. Answer: You can't.
Solution ( do all simultaneously):
1) Remove your own children from the government schools and encourage your friends and neighbors to do the same. Government schools need two things: Students and money. Taking children out of the government system does both. It starves the government schools of students and the money that is attached to these students.
2) Encourage vouchers, tax credits, and charters. This will build the infrastructure needed if and when all schooling is finally privatized. Wherever charters, vouchers, and tax credits are allowed, there soon form LONG LONG waiting lists of children with parents desperate to get their children into these schools. These parents are highly organized politically, and politicians will respond to their pressure. Geeze! Even the Democratic mayors of Milwaukee, Newark, and Washington are now firm supporters of vouchers.
3) In one California high school the teachers, themselves, voted to make their entire government high school into a Green Dot charter school. We must encourage more of this.
4) Conservatives themselves must start private educational foundations that would fund individual teachers who would open tuition-free, private, conservative, mini-schools and one room schools.
As the government schools disappear parents would be expected to take the responsibility of paying tuition. Charity would pay for the poor.
Oldest propaganda trick in the book: "You complain, and you're the only one. You are alone." This is why they so grossly underreported the attendance at the Tea Party.
Good list and one that we(conservatives) have been working on for a decade now with great success(as you point out). I’d love to see the whole Dept of Education abolished and no government schools at all, but meanwhile, we have to fight the ‘enemy’ on their own turf as well. That means going to school board meetings and raising hell over the curriculum,textbooks and teachers. The liberals have a monopoly on our entire education system and it’s time to push back harder than we ever have before. We need to bust up the teacher’s unions too. The whole ‘green movement’ especially needs addressing. That is the vehicle that they are using to indoctrinate our children into marxism and communism. I get so pissed off that so many conservatives and rinos have abandoned the whole ‘globul’ warming debate to the enemies of freedom, when it is nothing but a scam to redistribute the wealth and to line the pockets of wall street with cap n trade.
Just some random thoughts. Thanks for your post.
Jesus loves the little children,
all the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white,
they are precious in His sight.
Jesus loves the little children of the world.
I find it appalling and reprehensible that they are using innocent children to further their message. Maybe because the adults are catching on to what they are trying to do to this country.
I can't speak for anyone else, but I want my country back. My country.... the one that was founded on a belief in God and the goodness of my fellow man. The belief that I know what is best for me and my family, not the government. The belief that this country runs best when the government stays out of the way. I want the country that my father, cousin and son fought for. I want the country that I stood up for every morning in school and repeated, “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America". I miss that country.
Yep! Wondered how long (reading this BS letter) that it would take to get to the old "right-wing terrorist" false flag!
The worst part of this is that the morons who have been criminally abusing their offspring by committing them to this government indoctrination asylum will now feel all warm and fuzzy.
While I'm not disagreeing with you, how do you know that?
My sister home-schooled both her kids. One now has two masters and the other is pre-med... they sacrificed a lot to do this, but it paid off in two very nice young adults.
Well that is scary as is her comment about people not wanting Obama to address the kids -- she said it is "necessary"... hmmm
A guy in Mass. (Mass Resistence), Brian Cameaker. He’s a dad who has been after radicals in the public schools for years now. He got a Harvard student to infiltrate a gay/straight alliance state wide seminar for kids 13-19 and record the “private” happenings. The kids are made to give privacy oaths in the name of protecting the privacy (secrecy) of the adults and kids involved. Pretty hair raising! You can probably get a copy of the tape from him if you want to. I think he still has a web site.
I know from my sons, too. They always told me everything that was not supposed to “leave the classroom.” I told them if an adult is hiding stuff from your mom and dad, it is because they should not be doing it so be sure to tell one of us.
she was at the black caucus thing today signing autographs of her book.
figures... did she eat at the Obama table tonight?
New tagline! I have seen the light!
Yep! Wondered how long (reading this BS letter) that it would take to get to the old "right-wing terrorist" false flag!
Exactly. I am going to write a letter to Chris Manno and explain to him that his "non-apology" apology is pitiful. Moreover, he furthered the problem and exacerbated the issue by his attempt to shift the blame, instead of concentrating on this terrible behavior of his teachers.
Lastly, you see the shield of defense the liberals have put up, saying this was all about "XXXX History Month" (Women, Black, etc).
This leads to an inherent problem with these selective ""History" months if teachers and administrators view them as carte blanche to do whatever the hell they feel like with our children.
Burlington Township, NJ - Educational Curriculum
just sent the following email to the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Education and wanted to share my thoughts with you.
**********************************************************************************************************
Dear Commissioner Davy, it is with unparalleled disgust that I viewed video recently captured in your state’s Burlington Township School District.
The video shows elementary students singing praises to President Obama. I found one song in particular to be reprehensible, indefensible and demonstrating blatant disregard of traditional Christian values. That song was “Jesus Loves the Little Children.” Any reference to Jesus is replaced with Barack Obama’s name throughout the song,
For the principal and teachers of Burlington Township, NJ to defile, persuade, indoctrinate or otherwise attempt to influence the minds of elementary students with their own political ideologies is unacceptable at the very least. More likely, the actions of the staff at the school in question would be deemed unethical, negligent and indefensible.
I ask that you act in a swift and meaningful manner to restore some degree of faith in this misguided school district by not allowing another child to be exploited by reciting views which are likely not their own.
No action taken on behalf of the New Jersey Department of Education and the Burlington Township School District short of terminating those staff members involved with carrying out the aforementioned is acceptable.
Sincerely,
Mark Davis
Vista, CA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsYdu5R-FU4
http://www.state.nj.us/education/genfo/overview/bio.htm
http://www.state.nj.us/education/parents/contact.htm
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.