Michelle Obama Unwelcome In Florida Schools, Say GOP Board Members
First Lady Michelle Obama is currently on the campaign trail in Florida leaving Republican school board members none too pleased by her decision to hold an event at a local school.
Conservatively-inclined members of the Miami-Dade, Florida School Board sent a concise message to the First Lady on Tuesday: stay away from our schools. Florida has always been known as a battleground state in presidential elections (who can forget the classic Gore/Bush fiasco in 2000) and it seems the right wing down there are doing what they can to keep a lid on President Obama’s re-election pleas. The Miami Herald reports that two GOP board members urged that a Michelle Obama event at Barbara Goleman Senior High be cancelled immediately and its legality subsequently questioned.
“Allowing the first lady of the United States to use one of our schools explicitly to benefit the president’s reelection campaign is inappropriate and sends the wrong message to our students, employees, and to taxpayers – even if the president’s campaign is willing to pay for all costs resulting from the event,” said the letter urging the event’s cancellation, reports the Huffington Post.
Another board member echoed similar concerns: “The use of public schools whose only focus should be to educate our children for political gain is downright wrong. Don’t these liberals have boundaries? Our schools are places for learning, not places for politicking.”
Kind of depends on policy, really. For instance, Miami-Dade school board policy stipulates that any group can lease school property for gatherings and events, including political groups. In fact, the board isn’t allowed to discriminate against specific groups, reports NY Daily. Schools all over the country are actually commonly used by candidates of both parties in presidential elections. Mitt Romney will be at Central High School in Grand Junction, Colorado holding a town hall Tuesday. Don’t these conservatives have boundaries?
Weird. I know Florida school board policy better than some Florida school board members.
Do you think presidential candidates should be allowed to hold campaign events in schools?
