69´«Ă˝

Law & Courts

Minn. 69´«Ă˝â€™ Anti-War Effort Fuels Web Rumors

By Catherine Gewertz — March 08, 2005 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

A misunderstanding about students’ rights to express their opposition to military recruiters at their Minnesota high school sparked a flurry of accusations that spilled onto the Internet, generating a slew of angry phone calls from across the country.

The situation was resolved when the superintendent of the Bloomington, Minn., school district assured students they had the right to set up a table in the main hallway of Kennedy High School, near a table set up by military recruiters who visit periodically.

But for a few days last month, the students’ situation became a minor cause celebre, generating stories by the local news media and postings on Web sites, including that of the filmmaker Michael Moore. Those posts accused the district of silencing the student club, Youth Against War and Racism, under pressure from veterans from a local American Legion post.

That wasn’t exactly accurate. But it didn’t protect Gary Prest, the superintendent of the 11,000-student district south of Minneapolis, from being swamped with phone calls from Boston, Seattle, and points in between.

“One of [the callers] called me a blankety-blank fascist,” he said last week. “One person said he was going to take me down.”

The problem began Feb. 22, when members of Youth Against War and Racism prepared to put up a table, as they had done in December, with anti-war literature and a petition asking the school not to allow military recruiters at Kennedy High, said Brandon Madsen, a senior who helped organize the group.

The group’s faculty adviser told the students they couldn’t set up their table because members of the local chapter of the American Legion, a national veterans’ community-service group, had threatened to withdraw the support they give the school district, such as fund raising. Mr. Madsen said students decided to go ahead anyway.

They distributed fliers the next morning that urged students to call the principal and the superintendent to protest the denial of free-speech rights, Mr. Madsen said. 69´«Ă˝ in the organization used connections with other political groups to get their “urgent solidarity appeal,” saying the school was being “blackmailed” by the American Legion, posted on several Web sites.

Principal Ronald Simmons came by their table on Feb. 23 and instructed them to dismantle it and began to remove some of their materials, Mr. Madsen said. The principal, who did not return calls seeking comment, offered the students a chance to meet with the superintendent.

Assurance Given

Mr. Prest said he explained to the students that the district permits them to distribute literature expressing their political views, but that the policy hadn’t been sufficiently clear, or consistently applied. He assured them they could set up their table.

Once the students left, however, Mr. Prest spent a lot of time on the phone, trying to correct inaccuracies in the Web postings, including the statement that the American Legion had urged administrators to “shut down” the student club.

Several members of the Bloomington American Legion post were concerned that Kennedy High was distributing anti-war fliers to students, because one flier said it had received school approval. No such approval had been given, Mr. Prest said, but students do not need approval to distribute such fliers.

“The way it came to me is that my secretary said that if these materials are being distributed by the school, they were going to be considering withdrawing their support,” Mr. Prest said, referring to the American Legion post. “But that’s not a factor in any decision I’d make about students’ rights.”

The post’s commander assured Mr. Prest that the veterans’ group did not intend to threaten the district, and the situation was resolved, Mr. Prest said.

Patty Gustner, the post’s general manager, said the situation “got blown out of proportion.”

“We’re all for freedom of speech,” she said. “That’s what most of the guys here fought for.”

Mr. Madsen said the incident shows how students can stand up for their rights and win. Mr. Prest saw a different lesson in it.

“It shows you how fast information travels on the Internet these days,” he said, “and that what people read on the Internet, they believe, without checking it out any further.”

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the March 09, 2005 edition of Education Week as Minn. 69´«Ă˝â€™ Anti-War Effort Fuels Web Rumors

Events

School & District Management Webinar Crafting Outcomes-Based Contracts That Work for Everyone
Discover the power of outcomes-based contracts and how they can drive student achievement.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School & District Management Webinar
Harnessing AI to Address Chronic Absenteeism in 69´«Ă˝
Learn how AI can help your district improve student attendance and boost academic outcomes.
Content provided by 
School & District Management Webinar EdMarketer Quick Hit: What’s Trending among K-12 Leaders?
What issues are keeping K-12 leaders up at night? Join us for EdMarketer Quick Hit: What’s Trending among K-12 Leaders?

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

Law & Courts Billions of School Tech Dollars At Risk as Supreme Court Takes Up E-Rate Case
The U.S. Supreme Court will take up a lower-court decision that struck down the funding mechanism for the E-rate school internet program.
3 min read
digital citizenship computer phone 1271520062
solarseven/iStock/Getty
Law & Courts The Uncertainty Ahead for Title IX and Transgender 69´«Ă˝ in Trump's New Term
Trump may not be able to withdraw the Title IX rule on "Day 1," but advocates on both sides expect it to go away.
7 min read
Marshall University students hold a protest to voice concerns over the handling of Title IX-related issues at the university on Nov. 18, 2022, in Huntington, W.Va.
Marshall University students hold a protest to voice concerns over the handling of Title IX-related issues at the university on Nov. 18, 2022, in Huntington, W.Va.
Sholten Singer/The Herald-Dispatch via AP
Law & Courts Ten Commandments Law for Public 69´«Ă˝ Is 'Impermissible,' Judge Rules
The Louisiana law would require displays of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom.
4 min read
Photo of Ten Commandments poster on school wall.
Getty
Law & Courts Supreme Court Weighs High-Stakes Fraud Issue for E-Rate Program
The justices appear to lean toward a ruling that could help keep schools from being overcharged by telecommunications companies.
8 min read
Image of students working on a computer.
Carlos Barquero Perez/iStock/Getty