MCPS Moving Toward Ban On Nonprofit Flyers
This was inevitable. The Montgomery County Public School District is on the road toward banning all flyers from nonprofit organizations in high schools and middle schools. They couldn't figure out a way to stop the bad ones and keep the good ones, so now they will block them all. From The Gazette:
Our community should be able to trust that the public school district will not be handing out false and dangerous misinformation to students. Our community should expect its leaders, including elected leaders on the school board, to be able to draw a line between acceptable messages to send home and unacceptable ones. Our county's school board and administration from top to bottom have been unable to make that distinction, and so they are moving toward a new policy that says nobody can send home flyers. Punishing the whole class for the misbehavior of one.
Despite hearing concerns from Boy Scout volunteers Monday, the Montgomery County Board of Education voted unanimously to introduce a resolution that would ban nonprofit fliers from being distributed to students.A public school is two things. One, it is a government institution that implements programs administered by a central office and funded by taxes, just like any other government program. Two, the school is the focus of family and community activity for the neighborhood it serves. Education per se exists in the overlap. There is constant tension between these two roles of the school, on the one hand taxpayers expect efficiency and accountability and rigorous attention to formal requirements, and on the other hand kids like to play and make noise and jostle, their families love them and wish the very best for them, they get excited about learning and about activities, they worry and joke around and do all the things that kids do, teachers try to interface between the formal system and the spontaneity of youth and the diversity of families, and it not always easy to mesh real peoples' chaotic personal lives with the formal government framework.
Government agencies, such as the county’s recreation department and the school system, and PTAs, would be allowed to distribute pamphlets, and fliers could still be given to students in elementary schools. Fliers could be available to students on tables in all schools.
Residents can submit comments until the end of May. After discussion, the board will make a final decision in June. The policy will take effect next school year.
The fliers are crucial to ensuring diversity within Boy Scout recruitment, according to John C. Hanson of Gaithersburg, a Boy Scout volunteer.
The fliers reach students that are hard to reach otherwise, whether it be because there is a language barrier, they do not have a computer at home, they are new to the area, or they do not have stable housing, Hanson told board members Monday.
“I believe that the neediest children in the area will be the ones most hurt by the elimination of backpack fliers,” he said.
The Boy Scouts served more than 8,000 county students from first grade to age 21 in 2011.
Some school board members said that it is not the school system’s responsibility to provide a free outlet for nonprofits to get their message to students and families. Montgomery school board suggests banning nonprofit fliers from backpacks
Our community should be able to trust that the public school district will not be handing out false and dangerous misinformation to students. Our community should expect its leaders, including elected leaders on the school board, to be able to draw a line between acceptable messages to send home and unacceptable ones. Our county's school board and administration from top to bottom have been unable to make that distinction, and so they are moving toward a new policy that says nobody can send home flyers. Punishing the whole class for the misbehavior of one.
“I’m kind of torn with the question of whether or not the school system has a role in helping nonprofit organizations distribute their information,” said board member Phil Kauffman (At large) of Olney.No, this is under the school district's lawyers' interpretation of a court ruling.
Alan Xie, a Richard Montgomery High School senior and the student member of the board, said fliers waste time and resources.
He said he often sees students discard fliers.
The policy is being reevaluated this year after a flier sent home by Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays provoked outrage of some school officials and gay advocates.
Under law, the school system is not able to pick which fliers are sent home.
Some board members said they are concerned that the change may result in a distribution shift of what some see as offensive fliers. Those fliers are now just sent to middle and high school students but the rule change could shift them to elementary students.Since the vote was unanimous, you can be sure the board's mind is made up. This will easily pass when the board decides next month.
“We have tried to do our best in walking the legal tightrope, and realizing that there may be consequences,” said Patricia O’Neill (Dist. 3) of Bethesda.
If the change is enacted, after next year the school system will reevaluate its impact.
Residents can submit comments to the board at boe@mcpsmd.org.
posted by JimK at 9:32 AM
13 Comments:
You've got to love the irony here.
The Boy Scouts are complaining about lost access to school kids, triggered by a group that promotes harmful disinformation about LGBT people.
As a result, the Scouts will no longer be able to use the schools to promote their own disinformation about gay scouts and leaders being of inferior character.
I know, it's ironic, huh?
ironic?
try, typical
if liberals can't stop free speech that doesn't support the gay agenda, then they'll stop free speech
we've seen it again and again
no principle is more important than the promotion of homosexuality
What is with this guy Savage? Is he the new spokesman for the anti-bulling campaign, It gets Better. Have you seen his new bullying video against Christians?
This is the option Arlington County Public Schools went with under the threat of a PFOX lawsuit: not handing out any non-profit flyers.
Is it ironic that public disgust over PFOX actions impedes BSA recruiting efforts?
rrjr
What public disgust? A handful of
people?
Public schools are too busy with
bullying and the gay agenda.
They should stick with math and
science like they do in China.
Then our kids wouldn't be so confused.
Anon whined:
“if liberals can't stop free speech that doesn't support the gay agenda, then they'll stop free speech”
No one’s free speech has been stopped. Known hate groups can still publish their propaganda and pseudo-science / pseudo-medical misinformation. They just can’t use the MCPS system to spread their mind-rot like a virus.
“we've seen it again and again”
Indeed we have. Some Christian finds something that offends them and they squeal like a stuck pig. Get off the cross. You don’t deserve to be there and somebody else can make far better use of the wood.
I mean, really, if the “king” of “curing the gays” and frequent “expert witness” George Reekers can’t cure himself of same-sex attractions, what the heck chance do mere mortals posses?
Even the founders of the ex-gay movement have since recanted their “ex-gay” tripe, apologized to the gays they have hurt, and found that the real way to get rid of “unwanted same-sex attractions” is to change their religion. Then, they have a good religion, and their same-sex attractions are far more welcome.
“They should stick with math and
science like they do in China.
Then our kids wouldn't be so confused.”
I was watching TV the other day and found out that 35% of college students in either Singapore or South Vietnam (I don’t immediately recall which) are enrolled in engineering. Looks like they’ll be making even more of our consumer goods over there in the future.
In the mean time, we’ve watched “No Child Left Behind” mean “Whoa!! Slow down! You don’t want to leave those other children behind!”. We’ve watched school vouchers and homeschooling eat away at the funding for our public schools, the factually challenged hypothesis of “intelligent design” take the place of real science, and our children fall further and further behind their counterparts in the rest of the world.
Meanwhile we’ve also watched conservative xenophobes rant and rail about funding the college education to the hard-working children of immigrants, while fewer and fewer of our own obese Nintendo playing children go to university. This will guarantee that when I retire, the people paying into Social Security are a bunch of idiots who think dinosaurs were planted here by the devil 6000 years ago to deceive us, rather than a bunch of college educated doctors, lawyers, and engineers.
Have a nice day.
Cynthia
Uh, Cynthia, the only ones squealing like a stuck pig are the likes of you. You are an angry one. Not so happy in your costume?
Who's the idiot? You are.
Meanwhile, in China and India, kids are learning Science and Math.
Who's not so happy and constantly whines about actual science on sexual orientation and gender identity, women's healthcare, climate change, renewable energy, economic recovery from recession, and how to kill our #1 enemy?
That would be the obstructionists of the GOP who serve only the 1%.
While the GOP proudly applauded Bush landing a jet on an aircraft carrier in 2003 and giving a speech under a banner proclaiming MISSION ACCOMPLISHED in 2003, nowadays the GOP is accusing President Obama of politicizing the death of Osama bin Laden.
What a bunch of pathetic whiners!
It took President Obama's leadership to finish that unfinished mission, a mission Romney would not have bothered with. Romney said “It’s not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person.”
Oh really, Mitt! How out of touch are you? Try telling we should not have caught "one person" to these voters.
And these.
And these.
The GOP would rather double the interest rate on student loans as they decimate Medicare and Social Security so they give more tax breaks to the top 1%.
There the GOP goes again, trying to turn the war on poverty into a war on the poor.
Your ranting leads me to believe one thing. . .you are being fed the wrong info. You really credit Obama with nabbing Bin Laden?
It was the heroes who don't boast nor brag. The heroes who don't expect credit. It's the U.S. Seals,
stupid. Our idiotic president wallows in pride telling everyone "I did this" and "I did that" and then "I did this".
He doesn't have the brains to do anything but party and campaign.
Haven't you a shred of feeling that
you were duped with Obama?
You should.
George W. Bush was the duper with his MISSION ACCOMPLISHED stunt, his decision to NOT pursue bin Laden in Tora Bora, and his comment "I, I don't know where he is. nor... You know, I just don't spend that much time on him to be honest with you.".
Level Headed said:
“Uh, Cynthia, the only ones squealing like a stuck pig are the likes of you. You are an angry one.”
What you heard was the sound of disgusted annoyance. If I was aiming for “whine” I would have made it sound like one of Theresa’s posts – “I have to pay 45% of my income in taxes!”
“Not so happy in your costume?”
What do my two costumes have to do with this? Have you been snooping around in my closet? I’ haven’t worn my Medieval Renaissance Faire costume in something like 6 years, and my ankle-length leopard print dress last came out for a Halloween party a long time ago. I don’t have the occasion to dress up in costumes much, so if you need to borrow one, just let me know.
“Who's the idiot? You are.”
What happened to me being part of the “gay lunatic fringe?” Have I been demoted? Surely you can come up with a more imaginative pejorative than that! I know I’m not gay and I didn’t even wear fringe back in the ‘70s when it was popular, but you gotta chuckle at the colorful hyperbole.
“Meanwhile, in China and India, kids are learning Science and Math.”
Being and engineer, I know a few things about science and math. (I did my calculus homework in pen in high school.) In fact I’ve tutored both children and adults in math, and had fun little science project with the kids at church. Unfortunately, education has gotten a lower and lower priority ever since Regan took office, and now, most of my engineering colleagues were born in other countries. It doesn’t bode well for our future.
“It was the heroes who don't boast nor brag. The heroes who don't expect credit.”
Yeah, Obama really should have toned it down on that one. Something along the lines of a big red, white, and blue “Mission Accomplished” banner draped on the superstructure of an aircraft carrier would have been far more appropriate.
Have a nice day,
Cynthia
cinco,
haven't been posting much because it's getting old but occasionally will still read and was just curious about your comment about working with kids at church
what kind of church do you go to?
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