Sunday, November 20, 2011
Brookline holds and concludes Special Town Meeting, voting on a number of local issues.
On Monday, Cake and Ice Cream to Celebrate to celebrate Brookline's 306th birthday. Moms Talk reflected on the morning of an epic Wish, 11/11/11 at 11:11. We had a championship win at Babson College for Brookline Girls Volleyball over the weekend. In Brookline Police Log, there was a man who really didn't want people working outside his house. We've also invited you to Share Your Favorite Thanksgiving Memories. Tuesday, we started up a Holiday Cookie Recipe Exchange. Steve Carrell topped Brookline's Top Ten Movies, with "Crazy, Stupid, Love"--beating out the final chapter in the "Harry Potter" saga. David Ortiz visited the Animal Rescue League, along with a Brookline 5th grader. Tuesday night, Brookline's special town meeting started. We …
Friday, November 18, 2011
Warrant article 17, proposing a change to the Pledge of Allegiance policy, was voted down at Brookline's special town meeting.
At Special Town Meeting's final night, the vote was cast for the Pledge of Allegiance--at least the current School Committee policy (decided earlier in the year). In a 76 to 95 vote, with 9 abstaining, Town Meeting upheld the current policy, and voted down warrant article 17. Explaining his article, Town Meeting Member Martin Rosenthal said, "The concerns are as counterintuitive as they are shocking to many people." Concerns about the Pledge, according to Rosenthal, include the possibility of classmates mocking and ostracizing those who choose not to participate in the recitation of the pledge, and the fact that "it is—psychologically—loyalty oath." Bernard Greene, town meeting member, precinct 7, pointed out that "loyalty" is in the …
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Monday, September 12, 2011
Local group will bring the School Committee's Pledge Policy before Town Meeting.
Last week, Brookline PAX (Political Action for Peace) brought forth plans for a non-binding resolution at town meeting to ban the Pledge of Allegiance from Brookline's schools, the Boston Globe reported. The group claims that reciting the Pledge has no educational value, and puts kids in an "uncomfortable situation." Martin Rosenthal, a lawyer and the group's co-chairman, told WCVB-5, "I don't think patriotism is loyalty to the symbol of the flag. I think patriotism is being loyal to the principles that this wonderful country stands for." At the end of last year, the school committee approved a new policy that made recitation optional--if children are uncomfortable, they can opt out. There was even some confusion over the changed policy …
Friday, April 29, 2011
The committee votes 5-0 with two members abstaining in favor of a controversial pledge policy.
The Brookline School Committee passed a revised version of the Flag Protocol and Pledge of Allegiance policy Thursday night as the subject continued to stoke strong sentiments from the public. The vote was 5-0 with Judy Meyers and Helen Charlupski abstaining. Barbara Scotto and Susan Ditkoff were unable to attend the meeting. “There has been such strong pro and against recitation of the pledge. There are many, many—not only parents and children who want to recite the pledge—there are many members of our staff that want to recite the pledge,” said Meyers. “What this policy is trying to do is give people an opportunity to do that.” The controversy first arose during the winter when Devotion School families were sent a form that some saw as a…
Grahame Turner
2:09 pm on Friday, November 18, 2011
There is a current, on-going essay contest on a similar subject, running until December 15. http://patch.com/E-hJg1 more ›