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Rural Vermont town pushes for pledge to be said in school©Associated Press
© St. Petersburg Times, CORINTH, Vt. -- Townspeople have assailed administrators of a rural school for not adopting a policy of pledging allegiance to the flag in classrooms each day. "The flag stands for our freedom," Wendy Faery of Corinth, the mother of a 9-year-old, told the Waits River Valley School Board on Thursday, prompting loud applause from an audience of about 50 people. "We're going to war; the children need to understand why we are fighting for this." Even before the terrorist attacks Sept. 11, administrators and the board were under public pressure to have students say the Pledge of Allegiance. The 300-student, kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school is about 30 miles southeast of Montpelier. Principal Carole Freeman proposed having children in grades 2 and up gather outside at the flagpole to pledge allegiance and sing a patriotic song each Monday. Children who didn't want to take part could go into the building. The School Board supported that plan, but some residents said it was too limited. "Those that want to practice patriotism have got to go outside," said David Ayer, who called the idea "a disgrace." Robert Fortunati of Topsham, who brought up the idea of the pledge as a daily ritual a year ago, got more than 500 signatures on a petition. The board decided to leave it up to administrators. "Nobody opposes the pledge," School Board Chairman Peter Herman said. "The issue may come down to the details: Where is it said, how often is it said."
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From the Times wire desk
From the AP |
