Free Republic

A Coney Island [Brooklyn, New York] principal has pulled Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” from a kindergarten “moving up” ceremony, out of concern that Greenwood’s patriotic song was age-inappropriate and potentially offensive. “We don’t want to offend other cultures,” teachers quoted Greta Hawkins, the principal of the Edna Cohen School, as saying to defend her decision to nix “God Bless the USA” from the ceremony, the New York Post reports. Greenwood’s song had been sung at previous school functions, and students in five classes reportedly spent months rehearsing for the moving up ceremony. Department of Education spokeswoman Jessica Scaperotti...

A controversial Coney Island principal has pulled the plug on patriotism. Her refusal to let students sing “God Bless the USA” at their graduation has sparked fireworks at a school filled with proud immigrants. Greta Hawkins, principal of PS 90, the Edna Cohen School, won’t allow kindergartners to belt out the beloved Lee Greenwood ballad, also known as “Proud to be an American,” at their moving-up ceremony. ...snip... She told the teachers to drop the song from the program. “We don’t want to offend other cultures,” they quoted her as explaining. ...snip... The DOE reprimanded her in 2010 after teachers...