Maryland School Spent Taxpayer Money, Offered Credit, to Promote Million Mom
March

5/13/00

By Susan Jones, CNS Morning Editor

Some of the people taking part in this weekend's marches for and against gun
control
will be Maryland high school students - marching for credit that will count
toward
their graduation requirements.

The idea of a public school system endorsing political activism has some
parents
upset.

"Advocating for various sides of issues is part of the learning process,"
Montgomery County schools spokesperson Kate Harrison told the Washington
Times.
"It's part of the learning process. It's part of the democratic process."

If that's so, why did county school officials distribute a flier endorsing
only the
Million Mom March (which is expected to attract far less than a million
people)?

School officials admit that the PTA fliers sent home with students endorsed
only the
Million Mom March. Those fliers did not mention the Second Amendment
Sisters rally,
school officials explained, because that pro-gun group did not contact the
county, as
the "Million Mom" people did.

As proof of its organizational prowess, the Million Mom organizers
specifically asked
Montgomery County schools to let students attending the march count that
time toward
their "student service learning" requirement.

Even though the Second Amendment Sisters didn't request it, time spent at
that march
will also count toward the graduation credit.

<snip>

________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com