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Immigration See other Immigration Articles Title: Md. students to get service credits for immigration rally Md. students to get service credits for immigration rally By The Associated Press 04.10.06 WASHINGTON — Montgomery County high school students who attend today's immigration rights protest on the National Mall will receive credit toward Maryland's community-service graduation requirement. Montgomery is the only Washington-area school system offering students credit for taking part in the event. Superintendent Jerry D. Weast said the decision was consistent with the system's previous policy. But it did not sit well with some parents and activists who said education, not political advocacy, should be the schools' main focus. School system offices were flooded with angry phone calls on April 7. Weast told school board members in a memo that some "callers were abusive" and used "derogatory ethnic comments." "This is not the first time the national debate on immigration policy has engendered harsh commentary for the school system and staff as a target for political purposes," Weast said. Students will receive service-learning hours for participating in the rally, as long as they are supervised by an approved community group, said schools spokesman Brian Edwards. The sponsoring organization must verify the students' attendance, and the students must complete an approved written assignment. CASA of Maryland Inc., a Silver Spring-based group that works with the Latino community, is organizing student participation in the rally. Some parents believe the school system is allowing the group to push its political agenda on students. "I do understand that CASA offers some worthy services to immigrants and that's noble, but it's a stretch to allow students to protest for a particular side of an issue," said parent Melissa Andersen. "I think it's poor judgment." Brad Botwin, whose son is a senior at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, says the rally is more of a political statement than community service. "It's the wrong thing for the schools to be pushing," he said. "This is way outside the balance. You can send kids to a nursing home, but a rally? This is not learning." School board member Stephen N. Abrams said students have the right to express their opinions and should not be barred from participating. "The last time I checked, the First Amendment is not a right to question what the speech is," he said. "I'm sure if students were participating in a tax-cap rally, these same people would not be objecting to that." Maryland students must complete 60 hours of community service to graduate from high school. A number of activities qualify — including political campaign work — as long as it is done for a secular, nonprofit community organization that is tax-exempt and approved by school officials.
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#1. To: Tauzero (#0)
This is f'ing nonsense..
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