Free Republic

The town of Los Gatos settled with three anti-abortion activists on Feb. 24, paying their attorneys fees and entering a permanent injunction that will allow protestors on the sidewalk adjacent to Los Gatos High School. Eight activists were holding signs depicting various facts about abortion, and were handing out literature relevant to the abortion debate on the sidewalk in front of Los Gatos High School in 2004. "Some of the signs showed babies in various stages of the development, and some showed their condition after they were subjected to the abortion procedure," said Michael Millen, attorney for the activists. Administrators...

There’s a new organization in town — Parents Protecting the Minds of Children. Fayetteville parent Laurie Taylor, who has been waging an ongoing campaign to restrict student access to sexually explicit books in school libraries, announced the formation of the group at a public meeting she organized Thursday evening. About 60 to 70 people, mostly in support of Taylor, attended. This summer, Taylor released the titles of 54 books in Fayetteville school libraries that she wanted reviewed because of questionable content. She followed that up by filing a formal complaint Aug. 2 against the book "Push" by author Sapphire....

Civil liberties and homosexual rights advocates have renewed their push for community programs to bolster support in schools for homosexual youths, just weeks after voters repudiated same-sex unions in 11 state referendums.     But in northeastern Kentucky, parents and students have defied the Ashland-Boyd County school district's "mandatory anti-harassment workshops," part of an agreement with the American Civil Liberties Union to allow the Gay-Straight Alliances student group to meet in school buildings. Hundreds of students opted out of the tolerance training video, and another 324 students did not show up for school the day it was shown. The ACLU has...

GROVEPORT, Ohio -- Dressing up in Halloween costumes in grade school and having punch and cookies used to be one of the most anticipated days of the school year. Now, students at one elementary school in Ohio won't have those memories, WCMH-TV reported. Administrators sent a letter home with students Thursday alerting parents that there will no longer be Halloween, Christmas or Valentine's Day parties. "Since they are canceling these activities, it's kind of like they are taking tradition out of school," said Chris Ayers, a parent. Principal William Sternberg said about 15 percent of the student population doesn't participate...

03-12-2003 Teachers Support Peace, But Not Free Speech By Matthew Dodd What is going on in the minds of some public education officials with respect to the anticipated war with Iraq? Over the last two weeks, I have reported on complaints the Maine Army National Guard received from parents that a number of school officials were at best insensitive, and at worst, harassing their children (some as young as 7-9 years old), for the simple fact that their parents were deploying overseas with the U.S. force massing against Iraq. From the scores of feedback e-mails I have received, I have...