[ewing]

Let me guess who there two parents voted for.. Freeper help needed pronto!

[Abcdefg]

Okay, I'll be the goat . . .
The Supreme court has already ruled that kids can't be forced to say the pledge in school.

[College Repub]

Why should he personaly have to say the pledge? Maybe it violates his religous views. His parents apparently had no problem until the teacher tried to force him to participate and then punished him if he didn't. The parents have a case in my opinion.

[JeeperFreeper]

Gotta be in California, just gotta be.

[mhking]

No need to excerpt this:



Boy's parents want teacher fired in pledge flap


Lakeport eighth-grader punished for not saluting flag, mother says

January 8, 2003

By UCILIA WANG
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT















The parents of a Lakeport middle school student Thursday will ask the school board to fire a teacher who told the student to leave the classroom for refusing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.


Victoria Kearney said she will ask the Lakeport Unified School District board to dismiss David Laven because she is dissatisfied with the district's handling of her complaint about Laven's treatment of her son, Jim Woodbury.


Laven told Woodbury to stand outside the classroom when he wouldn't say the Pledge of Allegiance in his U.S. history and constitution class last semester.


"We are appalled that this can go on in the school," Kearney said. "My son's rights were violated. We are trusting that the Constitution is behind us on this."


Woodbury, an eighth-grader, said he refused to say the pledge because of his political beliefs.


"I believe the flag is a symbol of the government, and I think it's corrupt and I don't agree with some of the choices it made," he said.


After investigating Kearney's complaint, district Superintendent John Burke decided in December to send a warning letter to Laven.


Burke said in his written response to Kearney's complaint that students cannot be compelled to stand or recite the pledge. Pupils also should not be left outside of the classroom unsupervised, he added.


Laven didn't return calls seeking comment. But Laven told Burke during Burke's investigation that Woodbury was disruptive and tried to incite other students not to say the pledge, according to Burke's written report.


Kearney disputed Laven's claim. She contended that when her son presented a packet of information about students' rights to refuse to say the pledge, Laven threw the materials into a trash can and said he didn't care what the law is.


Burke declined to comment further on the issue, saying information about a teacher's job performance or a student's conduct is confidential.


The school board is scheduled to consider Kearney's request in closed session. The board could uphold Burke's decision or decide to look into the issue further.


California law requires students to participate in patriotic exercises daily, and saying the pledge meets that requirement. But the state Department of Education also has told school districts that saying the pledge is not mandatory.


A landmark 1943 U.S. Supreme Court case, West Virginia State Board of Education vs. Barnette, established that students cannot be compelled to recite the pledge.


Kearney said she pulled her son out of Terrace Middle School in November. Woodbury is now in independent study.


News researcher Teresa Meikle contributed to the story. You can reach Staff Writer Ucilia Wang at 4620-6473 or uwang@pressdemocrat.com.

[Restorer]

A landmark 1943 U.S. Supreme Court case, West Virginia State Board of Education vs. Barnette, established that students cannot be compelled to recite the pledge.

No exactly.

That case ruled that a student cannot be punished for not pledging if it is for religious reasons. The student in question states that his refusal is for political reasons.

[mhking]

Dr. John (spineless Superintendant) Burke: jburke@lakeport.k12.ca.us

Lakeport Unified School District
100 Lange Street
Lakeport, CA 95453
Phone (707) 262-3000
Fax (707) 263-7332

[AgentEcho]

The kid won't PLEDGE to the flag of the US, but the parents will use the CONSTITUTION of the US to suit their needs?

[WorkingClassFilth]

Wrong way to go about things. The kid has a right to not say the pledge if he wants.

The main thing is that scheduled recitation of the pledge of allegiance is given as part of the public schooling experience.

If the rest of the class recites the pledge, little jihad johnny will experience some degree of 'peer pressure.' The left has used this tactic for years.

[sweetliberty]

"We are appalled that this can go on in the school," Kearney said. "My son's rights were violated. We are trusting that the Constitution is behind us on this."

The hypocrisy is staggering. If these people are unwilling to pledge allegiance to their country then they don't deserve to hide behind the Constitution. If the pledge is so against their beliefs, they should go somewhere more to their liking....like Cuba!

[cynicom]

If this kid is offended by the flag and or the pledge, they will be offended a great deal in the life ahead of them.

[RAT Patrol]

If I were offended enough by the pledge to request to be excluded, I would be GLAD to stand outside the classroom. This just shows it isn't about respecting differences; it is about pushing a liberal agenda.

[EBUCK]

California law requires students to participate in patriotic exercises daily, and saying the pledge meets that requirement. But the state Department of Education also has told school districts that saying the pledge is not mandatory.

Anyone know what law this is????

EBUCK

[LouD]

I've been substitute teaching lateley, while between jobs. I have, on occasion, ran into a student who did not recite the pledge. Sometimes, this decision has an ideological basis, sometimes, it is laziness, and sometimes, it is because they are a foreign student: not an immigrant, but the child of someone here doing a short stint at corporate HQ before returning to their home country.

Obviously, I don't make foreign citizens, with no desire to become U.S. citizens, recite a pledge to the U.S. flag. For the lazy and the ideological, however, I tell them that not reciting the pledge is their choice, which I happen to disagree with - and I give them the reasons why. I try to engage them in debate on the issue, as in most cases, their antipathy toward their country is founded on ignorance, in some cases honestly acquired, and in some cases inculcated by mush-brained liberal parents. I've actually gotten a couple to rethink their position on the issue, and voluntarily stand up and recite the pledge.

However, in all cases, foreigners and citizens alike, they must stand and face the flag. That is a matter of common courtesy. After all, you wouldn't sit down if the anthem of another country were played at the Olympics, would you?

[PAR35]

The story uses "parents" in the lead, but I could find no further reference to a father.

[trebb]

Laven didn't return calls seeking comment. But Laven told Burke during Burke's investigation that Woodbury was disruptive and tried to incite other students not to say the pledge, according to Burke's written report.

So he didn't just stay mum, he became a nuisance

[Xenalyte]

Lakewood Press Democrat ^ | January 8, 2003 | Ucilia Wang

Aren't "Ucilia" those things that hang down in the back of our throats that we think are tonsils when we're kids?

[LdSentinal]

I wonder if I would get such positive media treatment if I (or my children) refused to honor Black History Month.

[Irish Eyes]

The teacher was only acting in the boys best interest, and did not want to harm him by making him hear something that he did not beleive in. I am sure that the teacher must have thought that it would be too insensitive to make the student listening to others making the pledge. ;-)