Posted on 10/01/2004 7:30:02 AM PDT by esryle
FOLKS, THERE'S A REAL STORY HERE...
HOW HARD WOULD IT BE TO FIND SOMEONE IN PA TO INTERVIEW THE KIDS TO GET **THEIR** TAKE ON IT?
I AM ALMOST CERTAIN THE STUDENTS WOULD HAVE **LOVED** THE HONOR AND THAT IT WAS THE PRINCIPAL AND SUPERINTENDENT THAT ARE IMPOSING THEIR WILL AND THEIR ANTI-BUSH HATRED ON THE STUDENTS AT THE SCHOOL AND THEIR PARENTS!!
Sounds like a school district decision.
I agree with you. Let's get this election done with so we get on with our lives again.
nick
I'd be on the school board like stink on feces to have this principal fired for denying my kid the chance to perform in front of the President of the United States.
Allentown sounds like a great place to pilot school vouchers.
Currently the poll is 68% say they should have played to 32% who say they should not have.
I'll also lay odds that if the kids had had a say in the matter, they'd be proudly playing for the Commander-in-Chief.
What a bunch of crap...
Translation: High School administrator with opposing political views dashes high school childrens only chance to play before the sitting President of the United States!
As a former HS Marching Band member (baritone horn), I would have been very excited to play before the President of the United States, and I'd have been pretty pissed off at my principal if he/she had done this.
OTOH, five weeks before an election, it's likely that any public appearance by the President is going to be as much a political occasion as a civic one. So the principal did have a dilemma here. What is this all about, anyway? Is this a flat-out campaign appearance by the President? If so, I think the principal did the right thing. If not, then perhaps he didn't.
ALLENTOWN SCHOOL DISTRICT (City of Allentown)
Administration Center: 31 S. Penn Street, Allentown, PA 18101
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 328, Allentown, PA 18105-0328
Phone: 484-765-4000; web: www.allentownsd.org
Superintendent: ($130,000) Dr. Karen S. Angello
School Directors: (4-year term) President: Jeff Glazier, 2007; Vice President: Elsbeth G. Haymon, 2007; Jeanette Eichenwald, 2005; Gina Kormanik, 2007; Mare Shaffer, 2005; Robert E. Smith, Jr., 2007; Sandra H. Stecker, 2005; Charles J. Versaggi, Jr., 2007; Andrew J. Weiss, 2005.
Most of students could not define the word "divisive". I suspect the NEA staff made the decision.
My daughter plays tenor saxophone for her school band. I think she'd be willing to give up her prized Harry Potter movie poster if she could have this opportunity.
What a dumb poll. If you get an opp to play for the President, no matter who he is you play! If nothing else for the experience.
What a PoS loser Principle or whomever made this decision. I hope the students who wanted to play get the chance with the other two schools that jumped at the opportunity.
Talk about fascism! It's right in their own school....poor kids.
Louise E. Donohue, Ed.D., Superintendent
(610) 351-5500
donohuel@ParklandSD.org
Here is a link to a page with contact information for the high school. I sent a polite note to the principal and the fine arts director letting them know that playing for a President could be the opportunity of a lifetime for young musicians.
http://www.parkland.k12.pa.us/HS.htm
Just a hypothetical question, but I can't help but wonder if they would have made the same decision if it were Clinton instead of Bush that they would be playing for? I get a less-than-subtle impression that how school administrators feel is often dictated by the party affiliation of the President.
Doesn't matter to me, I don't live there. If I were the kids' parents however, I'd see to it to make the loser's professional life as uncomfortable as possible.
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