Wednesday, April 11, 2007

District 214 School Board Paints Grim Picture of Christians as Education Leaders

In a recent election mailer by District 214 school board incumbents Deutzer, Dussling and Zimmanck, one other school member, Leslie Pinney, was formally "labeled" by her colleagues as someone who is a radical extremist wishing to force her religious agenda on schools and on children.

Is having common decency really a religious value? Even Rob Sherman, famous local atheist, agreed and spoke at the infamous May school board meeting regarding the District 214 purchase of books containing pornography for students. Sherman said that these books are not something that should be purchased by the government in the name of education and foisted upon our youth!

Interestingly, Leslie Pinney is the only person actually named in this campaign mailing. Someone should tell Friends of District 214 that Leslie Pinney is not running in this election...

The campaign mailing starts out with the idea that most certainly any candidates in opposition to the incumbents will seize the science curriculum and teach creationism only.

The most insidious part of the mailing is where the campaign committee says that all of the more than a thousand parents, teenagers, graduates, educators and concerned residents turned out at the May meeting to fight the action of "Book Banning!" Did they not hear the words of graduates that complained about the "opt-out" procedures that were unfair and better-named "solitary confinement?" Did they not hear the words of parents horrified to know that this obscene language was in their students literature? Did they not hear of teachers who were against such books being assigned to students?

The campaign mailing describes this literature as “precious”, as "stirring their imagination -- helping them dream and learn about how beautiful and complex the world can be” and as “some of the most important books of the 20th century.” 'Precious' pornography? You have got to be kidding. Get a grip!