At Least I Didn't Get Tasered

I attended a football game this weekend at Spaulding High School, as I've attended a number of high school football games across the state, in order to collect signatures on a petition so we can vote on supervisory union budgets.  As always while collecting signatures, I was polite and not pushy.  And I fully intended to stop collecting signatures, as always, before the opening kickoff, so as not to disturb fans.  And, as usual, I was well-received by the fans.

But this time, the athletic director of Spaulding High School, came up to me, berated me, and told me to leave.  This he did after a supervisory union board member, who had moments earlier berated me herself,  spoke to him.  What ambassadors for their school.

When we can no longer gather signatures on a petition on public property, our democracy is in trouble.  And it is in trouble in Barre, Vermont.

Comments

[Jack Harding]

Sadly this does not surprise me a bit. Our public education system has become like any other highly regulated, union driven organization. It now exits primarlily for the proliferation of its own power. Unfortunately this is a much tougher crowd than truck drivers or machinists. This crew only plays hardball. They tell us that the measure of our love for our children is directly proportional to how much money and authority we give them. Similarly, they are quick to point out...threaten... that any dollar that we deny them will directly reduce the quality of education our kids receive as opposed to slashing the massive expensives they are commiting us to for non-educational staff and their collective lifetime benefits; benefits that exceed any held by those of us paying the bills.

The most fundamental tenets of our society contemplate the oversight of the expenditure of our tax dollars and, even more essentially, the management of our children's lives. The people who would escort a peaceful petition seeker from a public place for pursuing these tenets undermine everything the majority of us hold dearly and should not, for this reason alone, have any responsibility for either our tax dollars or our children.

[George Cross]

"The most fundamental tenets of our society contemplate the oversight of the expenditure of our tax dollars and, even more essentially, the management of our children's lives." I whole heartedly agree with Jack's sentiment.

However, before commenting on the appropriateness of the measures taken at the Spaulding football game, folks should check the policies of the school district. Many districts have "outlawed" the distribution of petitions, political advertising and such on school property. Frankly, it is a part of risk management, thus an attempt to prevent legal actions by those opposed to whatever is being distributed. Risk management is an unfortunate way-of-life in schools these days. Business has practiced the art for years and schools are beginning to learn why.

[Curtis Hier]

There are some restrictions on the use of school property that have been allowed by the courts. But content-based objections are absolutely not allowed in decisions to ban petitioning. And there was clearly a content-based objection.