Posted on 06/06/2006 7:00:36 PM PDT by SandRat
PHOENIX -- State lawmakers voted Tuesday to tell every public school, community college and state university to put an American flag in every classroom.
But who is going to pay for it remains unclear. The legislation given preliminary Senate approval on a voice vote requires each governing board to seek donations of two-by-three foot flags -- made in the U.S. only -- or seek cash to put one in every room. They also would have to obtain flagpoles and other hardware.
HB 2583 also says, though, that if the boards can't get the required number of flags by July 1, 2007, they must purchase them. The measure, however, contains no money to do that.
That lack of funds does not bother Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa.
He said the Legislature is increasing funding for public schools by hundreds of millions of dollars. And Pearce said those flags can't cost that much.
Pearce said, though, he doubts that taxpayers ultimately will be hit. He said some Arizona companies already have offered to donate flags.
The issue, said Pearce, is patriotism.
All public schools already are required to have at least one flag displayed on the property. But Pearce said these usually are outside the building.
Community colleges and state universities do not have any flag requirement.
What is missing, he said, is a requirement for a flag in each classroom.
"That's where the students sit," he said, calling it "a nice reminder for them to recognize the freedoms we enjoy like no other nation."
The discussion of the measure provoked some debate among lawmakers of whether that show of patriotism should be limited to public school classrooms.
Sen. Ken Cheuvront, D-Phoenix, succeeded in expanding the measure to any private or parochial school which has students whose tuition is paid through scholarship donations that qualify for state income tax credits. And Sen. Toni Hellon, R-Tucson, said the Legislature itself should not be exempt. Her amendment requires flags in all hearing rooms.
But senators rejected a proposal by Sen. Bill Brotherton, D-Phoenix, to require those flags to be placed in each lawmaker's office and all meeting rooms. A final roll-call vote will send the measure back to the House which already has approved it in substantially similar form.
Bet Butch Vetoes that one too.
Would this flag be higher than, or lower than, the Mexican flag? (sarc/off)
Good grief, I'll spend a few bucks and donate one. They're not that expensive and if you bought them by the lot, they'd probably be even cheaper.
A lot of folks would say it's a dumb law, but I bet that's not why she'll veto it.
There are some people who just hate America.
If Butch doesn't vetoe it it better fly solo!
Great idea. I support it 100%.
Umm, they better consult with Vincente Fox. He may be offended at this proposal :)
I love Arizona..."An armed society is a polite society." "Excuse me, sir/ma'am" is never rude.
I think Florida passed a similar bill. The flags must be paid for by each individual school/school district.
WTF? I'll buy 20 classrooms worth of the flags for cryin' out loud. 3x5 flags cost ~ $20 apiece at Lowe's or Home Depot. I'm sure they could be gotten online for less in quantity.
What a joke! Feds, States spend millions and hundreds of millions, even billions on horsesh&% and we can't scrape together less than a buck a student to fund some flags!
"Good grief, I'll spend a few bucks and donate one. They're not that expensive and if you bought them by the lot, they'd probably be even cheaper."
It certainly shows the misbegotten priorities that this is even raised as an issue.
http://www.cvsflags.com/americanflags.cfm?kc=mXUYhsGzzf3t5HUjvbe12isXhHtTugXAzFiGbjaF&us=1
Let's start a little pool. How many teachers will refuse to display the flag?
Just tell the kids that they need to raise money to send to President Clinton to help him lower the deficit and they'll come up with all kinds of ways to raise money to buy the flags. They did it in the 90s, they'll do it again. Most of them will never figure out Bill Clinton isn't president anymore.
"What a joke! Feds, States spend millions and hundreds of millions, even billions on horsesh&% and we can't scrape together less than a buck a student to fund some flags!"
More specifically, we spend about $8,000/yr per student on education, and a $20 flag can last 10 years in a classroom of >20 kids.
So, class, let's do the math - what percentage of education spending would have to go to this?
$20.00 for 200 student years, or 10 cents per student per year, or
1/80,000th of the total education spending.
Um, that is 0.0012% of the educational budget to fund this.
Complaints about finding money for it are utterly insane.
Wild guess here but maybe the American teacher who is running the classroom should pay for it? Call it a sort of union dues as being an American? These people make me sick.......
When did they take 'em down...When I went to school, every room had a flag...
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