Officials’ reaction to student demonstrations oversteps
Money partially responsible for outcry over walkouts and protests

By Michael Culver

The Collegian

I WAS STUNNED AND pleasantly surprised this week when I looked out my office window to see hundreds of high school students waving signs and splashing in the fountain at City Hall as they exercised their First Amendment right of free speech while protesting the immigration reform policy facing our valley and nation.

But it’s not the immigration issue that concerns me this week. I was incensed by how the leaders of our community responded to the peaceful demonstrations. Instead of using this as an opportunity to teach our youth that their voices in politics can make a difference, they chose to show our youths how the strong arm of an oppressive government can utilize threats to discourage and all but eliminate their voice. Can anyone say Iraq?

Referring to “truancy policies,” the Sheriff’s Department and the Fresno Unified School District threatened students with incarceration, and threatened parents with fines and citations for contributing to the delinquency of a minor to suppress the protest movement.

These are the same community leaders who, according to Mayor Alan Autry’s Web site, enacted the Community Contract for Kids. According to the Web site, it is the “framework of common sense principles and approaches that will initiate immediate changes and compliment existing endeavors in the Fresno Unified School District.”

Maybe the Mayor, Sheriff’s Department and FUSD should read their contract with the kids because Article VI, section A expressly states, “Character, based on sound moral principles, is the cornerstone of a productive and fulfilling life and the expected norm in our society….. The Board will assure that character education is a mandatory element of the district philosophy. The Board will establish policy that identifies the CHARACTER COUNTS! curriculum as the district standard.”

The CHARACTER COUNTS curriculum teaches the Six Pillars of Character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship.

Each pillar teaches its own set values. Yet it is the “Pillar of Citizenship” our leaders need to review. It states, “Do your share to make your school and community better • Cooperate • Get involved in community affairs • Stay informed; vote • Be a good neighbor • Obey laws and rules • Respect authority • Protect the environment”.

And even if you look at this and say it specifically states, “Obey laws and rules,” I would argue that these students did nothing wrong in the first place. Since when did missing a few days of school constitute truancy?

If that’s the case, every time a student missed school for a family vacation or because parents simply wanted to spend some quality time with their child, they could be fined or jailed or cited for delinquency.

It wasn’t the education the kids missed that worried local leaders. It was their greedy little palms that bothered them most. Because, according to published statements, they missed out on $100,000 in attendance payments.

And if you think about it from a dollar and “sense” point of view, California really didn’t lose out. Our state school system is faced with billions of dollars in financial debt.

Therefore, our students were providing the state of California with an additional benefit by helping reduce the state allocation, and these funds can be used to help the get the state educational system “back on track.” Moreover, if every student protested for three days they could have a significant impact on the state’s recovery from educational financial failure.

I know this is a weak argument, and its intent was not meant to be a practical solution for the state’s financial woes. It was simply the same twisted form of logic that community leaders used to frustrate the movement.

Lastly, we spend millions and millions each year to get people involved in community and national affairs.

It is a travesty that our leaders saw fit to chain the unbridled enthusiasm these future voters had to make their world the kind of place they want to live. After all, this is their world. More importantly, it is their future they were fighting to protect.

Be sure to e-mail your comments on immigration reform to [email protected]. I will choose up to two statements that best describe the views of the readers and present these comments in next week’s issue.

Comment on this story in the Opinion forum >>