David Strand wrote: The Minneapolis Public Schools have complied with a federal mandate in the No Child Left Behind Act which requires distribution of Boy Scout materials despite the Boy Scouts being in violation of the nondiscrimination policy of the school district which every other organization which can send materials home with students must meet.
The threat of loss of federal funding would be a high bar to jump. The federal policy appears to clearly deny the school district's capacity to provide equal protection by undermining the "religion" and "sexual orientation" clauses of the school districts' nondiscrimination policy. Mark Anderson replies: This is so ridiculous that you want to deny all those who disagree with you the right to distribute their literature in a public institution. I fear for our freedom when the government itself makes decisions on what is suitable or not for the rest of us to read. It's too bad that it took the NCLB Act to stop this horrible discrimination by our public schools. It certainly does not undermine religion or sexual orientation discrimination clauses of the school in any way to allow private organizations to hand out literature. A much better argument could be made that not allowing such literature violates Amendment One of the US Constitution. Why does every such private organization have to have the same rules as the schools to allow access? My kids are constantly bringing home literature from private arts and creative organizations from their schools. I certainly don't agree with all the aims of these organizations -- those pamphlets merely go into the trash. By the way, your anecdote concerning the Boy Scouts in Michigan has no relationship with what goes on in Minneapolis. Have you actually talked to any Boy Scout leaders in this city? David Strand continued: Kudos to William Mitchell Law School in St. Paul for being one of the few in the country to continue to bar military recruiters on the basis of the military being in violation of William Mitchell Law Schools nondiscimination policy. It says alot that they not only remain party to the case challenging the law requiring them to allow military recruiters in violation of their nondiscrimination policy but are willing to forego some federal moneys and contracts to support their principals when many others(such as Harvard) have caved while the issue continues to wind it's way through the courts. Mark Anderson continues: Yes, the William Mitchell policy is also ridiculous. I just don't get it that it violates an anti-discrimination policy of the school to allow an organization with different rules to recruit in their school. It's commendable for William Mitchell to disavow discrimination on the basis of non-relevant factors such as sexual preference, but they fall back into the realm of intolerance when they insist that everyone they deal with follow the same rules. I certainly lost respect for the school when they put that policy in place. I guess they only want to educate those with the same narrow political viewpoint as their own. Of course none of their graduates would be interested in a military career. I have no relationship with the Boy Scouts or the US military. My son quit Boy Scouts a couple of years ago when he got bored with it and found more interesting things to do. Mark V Anderson Bancroft REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
