HHS students rising above intolerant history of community

Young people in Livingston County are doing what they can to overcome the county’s racist and intolerant past, and that is why students at Howell High School chose to put on the play “The Laramie Project,” a play about the aftermath of the beating death of a gay student in Wyoming in 1998.

The students will give their final performance of the play tonight at 7 p.m. in the drama room of the high school, 1200 W. Grand River Ave. in Howell. Tickets are just $5 and will only be sold at the door.

As predicted, the anti-gay hate group known as the “Westboro Baptist Church” plans to picket. It’s really just one extended family, and most likely it will be just one person showing up with a few disgusting signs to shout some of the same disgusting BS they spout at the funerals of service men and women killed in action. I hate to give them any more publicity, and I am only doing it to highlight the counter protest.

The Community Unitarian Universalists in Brighton are organizing a silent vigil to support the students, and that begins at 6:30 p.m. This group has done some excellent things in the community to support both human and gay rights in the community. If you go, please refrain from engaging the hatemongers because the Phelps family, like teabaggers, crave confrontation.

Ironically, it was an anti-gay hate group that helped give Howell and the school a bad name. The now defunct anti-gay hate group known as LOVE (Livingston Organization for Values in Education) was behind a book-banning drive more than four years ago.

The hate group was founded in 2006 by former school board member turned teabagger leader Wendy Day in response to a diversity flag they mistakenly labeled a gay pride flag.

So come out and take in the play for a mere $5 bucks or show your support by joining the counter-protest; or both. You can find them because they will have a banner that says, "Standing on the side of love."

Mark Oglesby's senior government class raised the bar for civic education

Howell High School students from teacher Mark Oglesby's senior government class again won the "We the People" 8th Congressional District Competition over Mason High School to again advance to the state competition in January held in Lansing.

We the People is a nationwide program developed by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Center for Civic Education. The group’s s mission is to foster the development of informed, responsible citizen participation in civic life. The actual program is based on materials developed by the center, and the program is funded by the U.S. Department of Education.

The competition is fairly simple, but the knowledge the students demonstrate is impressive. Students are divided into teams of three to six students, and the teams demonstrate their knowledge of various areas of the U.S. Constitution before three judges made up of community leaders from the community and across the state in a format that resembles a Congressional hearing. They are then graded on a variety of areas, such as knowledge, reasoning, presentation and participation.

The team finished third in the state last year as it has for the past four years. I have been lucky enough to be a judge in the past, and the knowledge these students demonstrate is impressive. I make sure I do some serous studying before I act as a judge.

Just today I happened to tune into WILS and some rightwing tool was talking about a survey and students could not even say how many justices there are on the U.S. Supreme Court. Right-wingers are trying to make the claim that public school - or “government schools” - are “dumbing down” students, and they point to an alleged poll in Oklahoma.

The host claimed - get this - that the government schools are “dumbing down” the students so they will not ask questions. This guy should take in the state competition for We the People if he believes that.

Apparently, a rightwing think tank called the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA) recently commissioned a poll of 1,000 Oklahoma high school students. The poll asked 10 relatively basic political knowledge questions that were drawn from the U.S. Citizenship Test.

The claim is that only 2.8 percent of Oklahoma's high school students passed the test. When you see how easy the test is, you will see why people are questioning the results. Apparently, only 23 percent knew George Washington was the first U.S. President.

Clearly, civic education in the U.S. is lacking, but I question the results of that survey.

I would pit Mark Oglesby's senior government class against any school in the country; public or private. Congratulations to the students at HHS, and good luck in January.

Howell High School wins third place in We the People state finals

LANSING - Howell High School students from teacher Mark Oglesby's senior government class took third place in the State Finals of the We the People competition on Friday, the 4th year in a row Howell has placed third.

Howell scored 920 points out of a possible 1080, and that left them a mere 25 points out of first, the closest Howell has ever come. Seven other high schools participated; Coldwater, East Grand Rapids High School, East Kentwood High School, Hudsonville High School, Marguette Senior High School, Mason High School and Richmond High School.

Students are divided into teams of three to six students, and the teams demonstrate their knowledge of various areas of the U.S. Constitution before three judges made up of community leaders from across the state in a format that resembles a Congressional hearing. They are then graded on a variety of areas, such as knowledge, reasoning, presentation and participation. We the People is a nationwide program developed by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Center For Civic Education. The group’s s mission is to foster the development of informed, responsible citizen participation in civic life. The actual program is based on materials developed by the center, and the program is funded by the U.S. Department of Education.

Howell’s Unit Three team - consisting of Michael Brown, Shayla Henrikson, and Matthew Wendell - finished first out of all of the unit three teams.

Shortsighted privatization is just one more assault on unions and reason

The all-out attack on unions launched by the Republicans with the push for right to work for less laws has a new ally called privatization.

This enemy of decent wages and quality workers allows public schools and government to fire quality workers who earn a living wage in order to hire a private company to hire other workers for minimum wage. Granted, this is not just a push from Republicans, but it stinks no less.

The latest assault has come here in Howell Public Schools where the school board is considering a resolution at its regular board meeting Monday to fire its union custodians in order to hire a private company to supply the services. According to the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus, “the union has offered to accept a wage freeze and have members contribute $2,400 yearly to health insurance benefits.” School districts all over the state are struggling to stay afloat with shrinking revenue from the state, but this is a shortsighted move. The board just approved its $67.1 million budget in June with $517,000 from its ending fund balance – money set aside for emergencies - and it expects to save $400,000 or more by privatizing custodial services.

This comes on the heels of news the school board wants to give raises to its top five administrators. Great, let’s give raises to the people who helped get us in this mess, but cut the wages of the people who are making do with less. According to the Press & Argus, those administrators being consider for raises include Superintendent Chuck Breiner, Deputy Superintendent Lynn Parrish, Assistant Superintendents Jeanne Farina and Rick Terres, as well as Paul Pominville, director of technology, and Mike Peterson, director of operations.

Howell is the largest public school in Livingston County, which is also the fastest growing county in the state, and Breiner is the highest paid public school employee in the county, as well as the third highest paid public employee in the county, raking in more than $140,000 a year. He only comes in behind U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers and the county administrator.

Public school administrators are always at the top of the pay scale, and both Terres and Parrish each earn more than $120,000 a year. Howell has the highest paid principal in the county at $111,000. I don’t have a problem with people earning the most money they can, but not on the backs of those below them and if it hurts the quality of the services provided like this will.

Board President Phil Westmoreland is the second board member to make the shortsighted proposal to suggest the swimming pool at the high school be shut down in order to save $100,000. In the interest of full disclosure, one of my part-time jobs is teaching swim lessons to kids at the pool.

But as such, I see the segment of the Howell community it serves, and it provides services from the cradle to the grave, from teaching infants and their parents how to be safe in the water to exercise classes for seniors and those with arthritis. When the millage was passed to add the pool onto the high school in the early ‘90s it was sold to the voters that if they voted to approve it the pool would be a community pool available for use by everyone.

I don’t mind paying school taxes even though I no longer have kids in public school anymore because it’s my patriotic duty to do so, and it’s our responsibility to provide a quality education for all children. However, as such the school and the swimming pool are community assets. It seems the board wants to go back on a promise, and I cannot see the sense of a useful asset like a swimming pool sitting idle when you are asking those who used the pool and don’t have kids in the schools to continue to pay school taxes.

I supported this board and administration when it stood up to anti-gay hate group known as the LOVE” PAC (Livingston Organization for Values in Education) that tried to ban books by Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning authors from Howell High School classrooms, but their financial decisions have left something to be desired. The district's second high school is set to open this fall. But after getting voters to pass a $90 million-plus bond issue in 2003 to build the high school it realized it did not have the money to operate two high schools.

Back to the swimming pool issue, Parker has a new, eight-lane, competitive swimming pool that will, and can, only be used by students and swim teams. They ignore the success the newest high school in Livingston County, located just a few miles east down M-59, is enjoying.

Some three years ago when Hartland opened its new high school it built a swimming pool and fitness center that the community can use, and they can buy memberships to, as well as by the day. The swimming pool is the standard 25-yard, six-lane pool that the swim teams and physical education classes use, but right next to it is an indoor water park that is always crowded and draws people from all over mid-and southeast-Michigan. If it does not actually make a profit, it breaks even. Why that was success was not considered when the new pool was built is anyone’s guess.

The school board has to do a better job that it’s doing with the public funds entrusted to it.

Livingston County perceived as racist surprises students

Stop the presses! Howell High School students are perceived as racist by people outside of Livingston County.

In an exercise in stating the obvious, the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus reported today that students attending the District IV Choral Festival at Walled Lake Western High School last month were called racists when they told other students they were from Howell. I have lived in my wife’s hometown of Howell for some 10 years, and do we really need a newspaper story to tell us what people outside of the county think of us?

The most obvious reason we wear this label of racist is because former Klan Grand Dragon Robert E. Miles lived in Cohoctah Township, just outside of Howell, until he died in 1992. He has died, but the actions of some small-minded people in this community have not. People keep ignoring the fact that the many people in the county, the city and the school district continue to reinforce the untrue idea that this is a small-minded, racist community.

The most recent example is the rise of a small but vocal anti-gay hate group known as the” LOVE” PAC (Livingston Organization for Values in Education). This group first raised its head after it mounted a campaign against a diversity flag they falsely claimed was a gay pride flag, and then they made national news by trying to ban books, including two books by African-American authors writing about racism, including one author who is a Nobel Laureate.

We also have the planned appearance of famous hatemonger and racist Ann Coulter at Cleary University’s Economic Club Speakers Luncheon Series for the princely sum of $30,000, further reinforcing the general perception that Livingston County is a safe haven for racists and bigots of all ilks, including rich, blonde ones.

We have also had a few instances of hate crimes, like the attack on a black State Trooper a few years ago, and last month a Hamburg Township family were greeted by racist words scrawled on the wall of their Portage Lake home by vandals and the home viciously ransacked.

The headline for the story, “Howell students stung by taunts” seems a little misleading, but in defense of the newspaper, headlines are meant to grab attention and get people to read the story.

When asked where they were from the; “The students proudly replied, "Howell High School," only to be told that being from Howell must mean the students "are racists," the 17-year-old (Kelsea) Raether said. An adult on the trip said the students were called "damn racists."

I hardly call these taunts. It was wrong and should not have happened, but I'm not sure I would call them "taunts." Again, calling people you don’t know racist is wrong, but the students surly could not have been surprised, based on the actions of the adults in the community.

Join HPS for dedication of wellness lounge: Open house will feature free food, exercise classes and healthy seminars

HOWELL – Howell Public Schools is celebrating the opening of the new Wellness Lounge and Activity Center in the Howell Area Aquatic Center from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Feb. 7 with an open house that includes a day of free healthy food, free exercise classes and free healthy educational seminars.

The cozy and welcoming lounge was made possible with a grant from the Michigan Department of Community Mental Health, the Michigan Department of Education and the hard work of dedicated staff and student volunteers. It’s the perfect place to relax and wait for your land or water exercise class to begin, or a place to cool down after a workout and talk with friends or get advice from the instructor. You can also relax and find information on healthy eating, exercise classes offered the HAAC and around the community and flip through the many magazines that promote a healthy lifestyle.

“This is part of the ongoing district wellness program to promote healthy habits and improve people’s quality of life,” said HAAC Director Saralee Bloese. “This will serve as a healthy hub for the many people of all ages who come through here every single day.”

The open house will feature free samples of the healthy snacks that are now available in the vending machines, and you can win a prize just for voting for your favorite healthy snack. The pop and other sugary drinks and snacks that were once available at the HAAC are a thing of the past.

Informational seminars are available throughout the day, including how to read and understand the nutritional information on a food label, have your body mass index (BMI) calculated by nursing students from Michigan State University and enjoy a free chair massage. At noon there will be a special historic Howell walk, sponsored by the Historic Path Walkers, with local trail master Linda Theil.

In addition to the special activities, the normal schedule of classes at the HAAC will be free all day. The schedule follows:

5:30 a.m. Splash Water Aerobics
6:30 a.m. Senior Water Aerobics
11:30 a.m. Arthritis and Special Population Water Exercise Class
4:30 p.m. Pilates Land Exercise
8:15 p.m. Pre-Natal Water Exercise Class

“We are a fitness and wellness source for every one from pre-natal and infants all the way up to senior citizens,” Bloese said. “We love to show off our facility, and I welcome everyone to come out and enjoy a day of health and wellness.”

For further information visit Howell Public Schools’ Wellness Web Page at www.howellschools.com/C5/wellness. The Howell Area Aquatics Center is located at 1224 W. Grand River Ave. on the Howell High School Campus. Call (517) 548-6355 for information.

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Book burners set to invade HPS Board meeting

The pitchforks and torches will be out tonight at the Howell Public School Board of Education meeting as a group of book burners try and rid the high school of such classics as Slaughterhouse Five" by Kurt Vonnegut and "Black Boy" by Richard Wright.

According to Howell Radio station WHMI, the leaders of an anti-gay hate group known as LOVE (Livingston Organization for Values in Education) circulated an e-mail among the group’s supporters, including LOVE member and School Board Member Wendy Day, asking their supporters to turn out in force to oppose the approval of proposed curriculum adoptions, revisions and changes that apparently include the reading list for English classes. The group’s leader, Vicki Fyke, is reportedly also calling for the ouster of Howell Superintendent Chuck Breiner. He is one of the most respected superintendents in the state.

The book burners first came to light about three months ago with the book “The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them.” It was approved for advanced 10th grade English class, but the group caused a flap over the book’s alleged profanity and references to drugs and sex acts. After a review the book – now a current major motion picture staring Hillary Swank - was reinstated. Apparently, some other classics not meet the standards of this small-minded group.

The so-called LOVE political action committee sprang up like a bad penny last year in response to a diversity flag they mistakenly labeled a gay pride flag. This hate group fielded its own candidates, and Day actually won. In fact, she was the only candidate endorsed by both the county GOP – for the first time in a nonpartisan race - and the hate group.

To further ensure our young people have a narrow view of the world, Fyke is also the advisor for the Livingston County Teen Age Republicans.

The only good that has come out of this entire fiasco is it has enhanced my reading list. If they don’t want you to read it, there must be educational value to it and worth reading. It is also demonstrating to the majority of Howell residents - the non-wings nuts - just how extreme these people really are.

Congratulations to the students who participated in the State Finals of the We the People competition

In the Republican-dominated wilderness known as Howell in Livingston County, there are some very intelligent and motivated teens trying to overcome the image that we embrace the Klan, burn books and hate gays.

Howell High School students from teacher Mark Oglesby's senior government class took third place in the State Finals of the We the People competition at the Lansing Center on Friday.

Students are divided into teams of three to six students, and the teams demonstrate their knowledge of various areas of the U.S. Constitution before three judges made up of community leaders from across the state in a format that resembles a Congressional hearing. They are then graded on a variety of areas, such as knowledge, reasoning, presentation and participation. We the People is a nationwide program developed by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Center For Civic Education. The group’s s mission is to foster the development of informed, responsible citizen participation in civic life. The actual program is based on materials developed by the center, and the program is funded by the U.S. Department of Education.

I have served as a judge for the local competition in the Eighth Congressional District a few times, and I was a state judge for the elementary school competition. These kids really keep you on your toes, and it's just amazing how intelligent, informed and smart they really are. I was only able to sneak over to the Lansing Center to hear one unit and cheer on my hometown students Friday, but it was as always impressive.

There were nine high schools participating in the finals, and East Grand Rapids High School was the winner, followed by East Kentwood High School and the Highlanders in third place. In the past, East Kentwood dominated the event followed by Howell.

There is supposed to be a team from each of Michigan’s 15 Congressional Districts, but unfortunately not every high school in the state participates. Hopefully, we can change that. Also participating were Coldwater High School, Dryden High School from District 10, Hudsonville High School from District Two, Marquette Senior High School, Milan High School from District 15 and Rockford High School from District Three.

Congratulations to the winners, all the students who participated, the judges who volunteered their time and the teachers for including the outstanding program in their curriculum.

Anti-gay groups association with proposed high school ROTC program sours the proposal

A possible Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program at Howell High School is off the table because of the apparent high start up costs of establishing the program, according to the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus.

It was reported the startup costs for an ROTC program are between $80,000 and $100,000, and with the looming budget crunch facing the state the expense was too great. I spent 20 years in the military, and I believe the military is a fantastic place for anyone starting out in life to pick up some maturity, valuable training and perhaps the most responsibility you will ever have in your life, short of being a parent. But a few things trouble me about this program.

First, this paragraph from the article: But Vicki Fyke, a member of the Livingston Organization for Values in Education traditional values group and an active member of the county Republican Party, held out some hope that U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, may be able to help get the ROTC program started.
She said she had contacted a member of Rogers' staff to get some help with the application process and, possibly, funding.

The so-called LOVE group is nothing but an anti-gay hate group, and their association in this immediately turns me off. Will gay students be excluded?

Second, the only real info I can find on this program is from the U.S. Army’s recruiting web site. I don’t want this to be simply a tool for recruiters to find new recruits. I know recruiters have a tough job, especially now with the misguided Iraq fiasco, but I want any program to live up to its goals of instilling the values of citizenship, service to the country and community, personal responsibility and a sense of accomplishment, and I don’t want the goal to be a farm system for the U.S. Army. The support or lack of support of the failed Bush policies in Iraq should have nothing to do with the decision to establish a program.

A Soldier, Sailor and Marine’s job is to serve their country and obey the orders of the Commander-in-Chief and the Congress, and it’s our job as voters and citizens to see that these brave men and women are not being placed in harm’s way needlessly.

Frankly, I’m not sure why the program would cost so much to establish. Is there full-time paid staff involved, is it taught during school hours, is there classroom instruction or is it after school? It can’t cost nearly as much as fielding an athletic team.

However, I would like to offer an alternative for the two students – but I’m sure there are many more – who expressed interest in the ROTC program. Right here in Livingston County is one of the best Civil Air Patrol squadrons in the state, the Livingston Composite Squadron.

I was once a member of the squadron – they are a composite squadron, which allows senior members and cadets – with my daughter, and I met some of the most outstanding young people I have been associated with.

The Civil Air Patrol is the all-volunteer, official civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force with both senior members and cadets from age 12-21, and CAP flies 95 percent of the nation’s search and rescue missions. CAP is a private, non-profit organization, but it follows the ranks, structures and uniforms of the Air Force.

Not only does it drill and do the same things as an ROTC program, but they help the community by actually being tasked with real SAR missions, both ground searches and airborne searches with its Cessina 172. They can also be tasked in a natural disaster or other emergency, just like the National Guard, especially since most of them are in Iraq.

In the last five years the squadron has produced two cadets of the year for the Michigan Wing that overseas the 47 squadrons spread throughout the state, and one cadet was recently appointed to the U.S. Air Force Academy. Many more go on to join the military, and the experience can earn them an extra pay grade when they enlist.
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The squadron meets from 6:30 -9 p.m. every Wednesday at the Howell Armory, 725 Isbell St. in Howell.

For those young people considering joining the military, I say go for it, and you will not find a better place to begin your journey in life. But when going in to talk to a recruiter do so with your eyes open, question everything, don’t take anything at face value, get everything in writing and maybe even take your parent, guardian or someone you trust along with you.

I think perhaps the most telling part of the article is when Fyke claims Rogers offered to help with the start-up costs, which would be one of the few times we have seen a benefit to the 8th Congressional District from his representation. However, Rogers spokesperson clears up that misconception, and the only commitment from Rogers was the promise of a letter of recommendation.

Unbanned book is unpulled from high school

A book that was banned by Howell Public Schools from its advanced 10th grade English class because of alleged profanity and references to drugs and sex acts was approved for use by the high school’s English and language arts teachers, according to an article in today’s edition of the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus.

The approval for the book, “The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them" comes just the day before a movie based on it is released in theaters starring Academy Award Winner Hiliary Swank.

The book has been a source of controversy for the past couple of months, and its has not helped Livingston County’s image as an intolerant place that discriminates and shuns diversity and other opinions. The school district has taken exception to the word banned, and they say it was just “pulled” for further review after a few parents complained about the book. I’m not all that sure what the difference is between banned and pulled, but apparently there is a difference even if the result is the same.

What this approval by the teachers means is a little unclear to me, or why the approval is news. Late last month the newspaper reported that 17 English teachers at Howell High School signed a statement that said the book was approved and used as a supplemental part of the curriculum by the Howell High School English department last year. Isn’t this new approval what they just did for the second time?

The article today said the district's Curriculum Council had the final approval, and the council meets next week. What the article does not say is who is on the Curriculum Council. Is it all teachers, all administrators or both? Are there any parents on the council or any of the elected school board members? Does the elected school board have any say in the matter?

Today’s article goes on to quote Marybeth Roose, the district's director of community education and communication, as saying parents have the option of choosing another book if this one offends them, but that option has always been there, and it was there before this entire flap began.
"They (parents) are encouraged to contact the instructor, express that concern and a replacement could be assigned," she said. "It would be a book that would achieve the same outcome in terms of instruction, but do it in a different way."

Homophobia groups wage assault on Constitution

A group dedicated to doing away with the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution’s ban on establishing a state religion that’s affiliated with the biggest homophobic group in Michigan is trying to establish a course on the Bible at Howell High School.

North Carolina-based National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools is trying to establish an elective course that will study the bible in a literary context and as history not as doctrine. This group claims the “program is concerned with education rather than indoctrination,” but its website says it want to return the Bible to public schools.

They are also affiliated with the American Family Association. This is the religious group that hates gays that is boycotting Ford Motor Co. because it advertises its products in publications aimed at gays. Those of us in Michigan thank you for that. The Michigan chapter of AFA is headed by undoubtedly the biggest homophobia in the state, Gary Glenn.

Luckily, this backdoor assault on the Constitution’s separation of church and state is being contested by a group called Michigan Atheists. They might have an uphill battle, judging by this misgauged quote from the rightwing reactionary on the Howell Public Schools Board of Education, Wendy Day.

According to the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus, Day further contended the atheist group is inaccurate when it cites the U.S. Constitution as mandating a separation of church and state.
"To state it's a constitutional issue is misleading and inaccurate," she said.

Is she for real? Normally I would support the study of comparative religion and the Bible as literature in public schools, and it does not violate the 1st Amendment if it’s done correctly. One of the best courses I took in college was World Religions, and it changed the way I look at cultural, other countries and the world in general.

If this North Carolina group with its agenda is allowed to develop the curriculum for this course I can guarantee it will violate the Constitution.

We have some of the best state universities in the country right here in Ann Arbor, East Lansing, Ypsilanti, Mount Pleasant and Kalamazoo with excellent liberal arts, Religious and Philosophy departments that can provide excellent curriculum. I don’t want to offend my Spartan readers, but the University of Michigan has been described as the Stanford of the Midwest. Why do me need to go to North Carolina for curriculum when we have the best educational institutions in the country in our own state?

Intolerance reigns in Livingston County

We have another case of so-called community leaders overreacting and practicing censorship.

For the last two months or so there has been a flap over Howell High School banning – or pulling - a book from its advanced 10th grade English class called “The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them" because of the book’s alleged profanity and references to drugs and sex acts. The district’s administration basically left the English teacher using the book out to dry by saying she never had approval to use the book in class.

For those of you who may have been watching TV recently, you may have seen the trailer for a film called “Freedom Writers” starring Hilary Swank that is based on this book. According to the plot line, “A young teacher (Swank) inspires her class of at-risk students to learn tolerance, apply themselves, and pursue education beyond high school. “ We do not want our young people learning tolerance, especially in conservative Livingston County.

It turns out that the book was used last year in class, and the book was approved by the English Department, according to an excellent article in the Daily Press & Argus by a good friend of mine and a future teacher.

A joint statement, signed by 17 English teachers at Howell High School, said the book was approved as a supplemental part of the curriculum by the Howell High School English department last year.
Ms. Capy is teaching the book because she was assigned to teach both of the two sections of accelerated 10th-grade English this year," the statement said. "It needs to be made clear that she has no responsibility whatsoever in the approval of the book other than being a voting member of the English department. The criticism of her by a few members of the community is completely unjustified."

Some of that unjustified criticism ”by a few members of the community” came in a letter to the editor in the newspaper today by Vicki Fyke, where she says, “It will be interesting to see if our administrators or our school board have the courage to enforce their policies and reprimand this irresponsible teacher for her total neglect in following the proper procedures and for not being the least bit sorry once she was scolded.” Maybe you should check your facts before you throe out unjustified accusations, Ms. Fyke.

The interesting thing about this letter is Ms. Fyke is the advisor for the Livingston County Teen Age Republicans. What a great job for an intolerant person, and she can pass that on to our future leaders. Apparently, she thinks only students with perfect records are worth educating. I suggest you read the book and go see the movie. Oh yea, I forgot, Liberal Hollywood is not going to stop you from being intolerant.