April 10, 2006

Go to Rally, Get Credit

Some schools hand require their students to do some kind of community service. I'm not fond that political activity can be used to satisfy the requirement. I'm certainly not pleased simply attending an immigration rally will do it:

Montgomery County public school officials are awarding community-service credits to students who participate today in a pro-immigration rally on the Mall, angering some residents, who say the school system is supporting illegal activity.

"Under no circumstances should [student service-learning] hours be used to promote activities such as going to a protest for illegal aliens," said Brad Botwin, president of the Richard Montgomery High School Athletic Booster Club in Rockville. "To volunteer to teach people English or help with food services [is OK] but to aid and abet illegal aliens and to have students go downtown and get credit for this is mind-boggling."

Immigrant advocacy group CASA of Maryland is helping organize rallies in more than 65 cities to persuade Congress to pass legislation that will help provide citizenship to illegal aliens in the United States, instead of requiring them to be deported.

The group last week asked school officials to provide buses and grant credit to students who participated in the rally. Officials said they denied the request for buses because expenditure tax laws forbid it.

The Maryland State Board of Education in 1992 began requiring students to earn 60 community-service hours to graduate from high school. Counties are allowed to decide what constitutes appropriate service. Montgomery County grants credit for service in three areas, including in advocacy.

Forced volunteering is repugnant to me; it immediately stops being a generous donation of one's time. That being said, teaching literacy, building homes for the homeless, and comforting sick kids all rise to a higher socially-important level than spending a few hours at a rally supporting people who broke the law.

If the Washington, D.C. rally is anything like the one in Dallas it will end up being a recruitment party for Democrats.

In Madison, WI State Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager won't be getting any school credit, but she will be pandering to illegal aliens and their supporters. Strange from a woman who was elected to enforce the law.

"Schools Draw Fire for Offering Credits for Protest"