Educators forgot they are dealing with kids (in the United States of America), no less

Boy am I steamed !!

 

Nothing gets my ire up faster or more often than a self serving appointed official who starts making rules and enforcing penalties on people for being Americans and acting like it. Last time I looked this was the land of the free and the home of the brave. You know - Good old - Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, American Dream and all that stuff.  The land of freedom of speech and religion and peaceful assembly.

I wrote the following letter to two school officials and their school boards who decided they have somehow been magically granted the authority to withhold high school diplomas from deserving kids who put blood, sweat and tears into 12 years of effort , all kinds of silly pointless testing, and constant triple unnecessary overloads of both homework and fundraising into earning the diplomas for breaking some pointless obscure meaningless "rule" and pissing off some principal. In one case, 5 kids were denied their diplomas because people in the stands made too much noise. That's right, they didn't even commit the offense and they got penalized. Galesburg Illinois. Wonderful little town full of pompous folks who forgot that graduation is full of proud relatives and kids.  In order to receive their Diplomas later they must perform one day of community service.What a bunch of idiots. These people are a bunch of out of touch lunatics.

 

In the second case, the Frickin' valedictorian had his diploma withheld in Eagleville TN, because he said he would re-write a portion of his speech that the school administration did not like, and when he got up to give his speech he left it in and they turned off his mike and basically booted him off the stage and withheld his diploma. What gives them the right to infringe upon his civil liberties guaranteed in the constitution , because they personally did not like his comment? SO WHAT, BIG FAT HAIRY DEAL, GET OVER IT !  (By the way, the ACLU in Tennessee saw to it he got his awarded the next day with no penalty. Probably the only good thing the ACLU has ever done.) What these numb nuts fail to remember is they are responsible for and are teaching 18 year olds.

 

They are goofy, opinionated, dress funny and have crappy jobs. they skateboard, raise hell and play rap music too. Your gonna keep the valedictorian 's Diploma? The smartest kid in school ? Gee, I guess the losers who smoked dope in the bathrooms and the jocks who had sex in the gym don't have a chance do they? Boo- Hooh, sucks to be you ....somebody make you mad ! 

 

PA Announcer - "Thanks for coming everybody, graduation exercises are cancelled because a rule was broken, have a safe trip home. Try again next year"

 

I'd sued these idiots so fast the paper would have caught fire on its way to the courtroom. Evidently these lowbrow plant eaters don't think any of these things you will find in the US Constitution apply to students or to their rules ! My response to the brain surgeons who did this is below. Boy am I pissed about this !

 

Thankx,

bigmike

Check out http://answrtek.com my new business

 

****Message *****

 

Saturday June 2, 2007

 

Dear Sirs,

 

 

I am writing you today in response to the story I read about how one school district (Galesburg High School) has made the incomprehensible and I believe indefensible decision to withhold High School graduation diplomas from some students because of a violation in a policy asking parents and others attending graduation to not cause disruptive behavior etc. In Eaglesville TN, the valedictorian's diploma was withheld over some remarks not redacted as agreed in the graduation remarks speech.

 

If I were one of these parents I would mortgage my home and my future in order to sue each of you in Federal District Court to make you admit you are both wrong in the worst possible way to be wrong. This is how strongly I believe in what I am about to say.

 

Your Policies negatively affect every American and is offensive . I for one object to enforcement by withholding diplomas in the most strenuous terms. Without regard to your signed document, your policy, the behavior of parents and others or the desire to have the ceremony attended with dignity, or this kids non redacted speech , policies like these and their enforcement goes against everything this country stands for. One of the primary reason America exists today is because people from other lands wanted to live in a land where they were held accountable for their own actions and only for their own actions and they were accountable only under a systematic procedural and just rule of law.

 

In this country, as evidenced in the preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America , Americans are guaranteed Justice in regulation by their elected or appointed officials.  The Constitution in the preamble says " WE THE PEOPLE of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

 

Your Policies are indefensible in a court of law. Even though you are not Congress and these are not laws, you both are expected to adhere to the principles of this forming document as you make and enforce school policies. Your school rules cannot take fundamental American rights away from free citizens of the United States of America, and if they do they are unenforceable and are unconstitutional. Rules like these are no more valid than one which would make a student culpable of a criminal act committed by another unknown person. Fundamentally they are flawed and are not based on common law, black letter law, the Constitution, any state law in affect in Illinois or Tennessee and in the Illinois case, is not now supported by your State board of Education. You could no more enforce this rule than if you made a rule and had an agreed signed document forcing these kids to become Catholics instead of Baptists. Whoever thought these rules up and then decided upon their formation , language and subsequent enforcement needs a refresher course in American History, specifically the Constitution of the USA.

 

They are also in direct conflict to several Articles in the Constitution in the Bill of Rights :

 

• Amendment I -"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; of the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
  • Your rule abridges freedom of speech.
  • Your rule abridges the right to peaceably assemble
• Amendment V- "No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
  • No hearing.
  • No due process.
  • No compensation.
•  Amendment VI- "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.
  • Your rules afford no justice, no due process and are not impartial.
  • There is no hearing.
  • The accused in this case is not afforded the right to hear grievance.
  • No evidence is heard and no witnesses are examined.
• Amendment VII- Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
  • Your rules are both cruel and unusual. Just google "Diplomas withheld" and as of today there are more than 533,000 English only web pages dedicated to this story.
  • It is big news in America and that makes it both cruel and unusual.

Please do the right thing and quickly abandon these policies and any like them and give these kids the diplomas they earned and deserved. This is not what you should be teaching our children. Public embarrassment and international humiliation are the only real after affects of your rules. You probably did not need the civics lesson , however for your edification I have attached a copy of the Constitution for your review.

 

Regards,

 

 

An American Citizen

(name and address witheld for the blog)