Posted on 04/01/2002 4:43:32 AM PST by kattracks
(CNSNews.com) - The U.S. Department of Education will investigate a complaint filed against a Maryland county that alleges government officials there broke the law by discriminating against the Boy Scouts of America.
A group calling itself the Public Advocate of the United States filed the complaint against Montgomery County, Md. for the county's decision to reverse a long-standing policy and bill the Boy Scouts for meeting space on public school property. The scouts had previously met on the same property for decades at no charge.
The Boy Scouts are still feeling the effects of their highly publicized policy to exclude homosexuals from leadership positions - a policy defended by the U.S. Supreme Court in a ruling two years ago.
The Education reform law President Bush signed earlier this year, titled the No Child Left Behind Act, contained a provision protecting the Boy Scouts. It's the same provision Eugene Delgaudio, executive director of Public Advocate, cited in his complaint.
Delgaudio received a letter from the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, confirming that the office will investigate the Maryland case.
"We have determined that the Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act applies to the Montgomery County Public Schools (the District) and therefore we have opened your complaint against the District," Myra Coleman, of the Department of Education, wrote.
"Under the (No Child Left Behind) act, these entities may not deny equal access or a fair opportunity to meet, or otherwise discriminate against, any group officially affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America, or any other youth group listed in title 36 of the United States Code," Coleman stated.
"OCR (Office For Civil Rights) has determined that it has jurisdiction over this allegation, and we will begin our attempt to resolve it shortly. Our objective is the prompt, appropriate resolution of the allegation in this complaint," Coleman wrote.
According to Delgaudio, the controversy should never have reached this far.
"Montgomery County officials have been given repeated chances to obey federal statute and reverse these fees to punish the Boy Scouts of America because of their moral virtues. Now that the federal government is investigating these abuses, hopefully the county will no longer ignore the law of the land," said Delgaudio.
Public Advocate contends that the education reform law contains a provision that could result in Montgomery County losing its $40 million in federal education funding because of the way it has treated the local Boy Scout chapter.
The Interagency Coordinating Board for the Use of Public Facilities is an independent agency that administers activities on school property for the Montgomery County government. The board insists the Boy Scouts are being treated fairly.
"Why should any one group be treated differently from all of our other non-profit organizations. They, along with the other worthy organizations, should be paying the same non-profit rate. We are talking about three dollars an hour," said Ginny Gong, director of the Interagency Coordinating Board.
"The decision was not just for Boy Scouts, it was for all scouting groups. We are talking about 4-H, Girl Scouts and all of these groups are impacted. It is the interest of this board to make sure that we are not discriminating against any group.
"Therefore," Gong emphasized, "in the interest of equity and fair treatment of all non-profit organizations, and we have a lot of non-profits using our facilities, the board made the decision to charge the scouts, like all the other groups, a reduced non-profit rate. This was so that every group would be treated fairly."
E-mail a news tip to Jim Burns.
Send a Letter to the Editor about this article.
Imagine if the Catholic church leadership had taken appropriate action when they learned of homo-pedophile priests unstead of trying to cover it up....Imagine how much better that would have been.
Very observant of you. I was just wondering if anyone was going to pick up on this.
In fact, this is most likely NOT the case to fight (if in fact all non-profits are being teated equally).
Just curious, but how does a newly created non-profit sue a state on behalf of a completely separate non-profit? Can you do that?
Note that this law suit is not being put forward by the Scouts. Since this case seems to have obvious weaknesses, and since any case at this level gets a lot of attention and tends to be referenced for future decisions, I have to wonder just who it is that's pushing this suit forward.... motives may not necessarily be what seem obvious on the surface.
If I, as a single male having no children in the relevant age group, had attempted to hang out with a Girl Scout troop, the local troop leader would be right to prevent me. Its only logical. Why would I be seeking such a position? Its definitely a legitimate concern.
So then why do homos think they can just walk off the street and apply for the position of scout leader like they had a right to it? Do they all just happen to like camping that much or is the attraction something altogether different?
Priests become Monsignors, Monsignors become Bishops, Bishops become Cardinals, Cardinals become Pope. How high up the chain do these homo-pedophiles go? They probably thought it was in their best interest to cover it up. But you're right...
I am a Catholic although I have been lapsed for about 15 years...current events really don't make me want to back to the Catholic Church.
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