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April 1, 2005

Culture warriors to move on

Stung by public criticism over the enormous legal costs and divisive public distractions their battles have inflicted on school systems, several major advocacy and litigation groups have decided to declare America's schools a demilitarized zone. "There's no shortage of other issues and other places where we can wage the good fight without draining money and attention away from children's educations," said one prominent religious values litigator. A civil liberties spokesperson agreed: "We started hearing from our members that they thought there might be higher priorities for our efforts in 2005 than defending the constitutional right to red, white, and blue hair."

The groups, frequently on opposite sides of contentious issues, emphasized that they will not be shy about continuing to voice their sincere concerns to school boards. But they have signed on to a Consensus Statement of Principles of Civil Behavior. Gone will be the approach of having their lawyers issue arrogant, short-fuse demand letters, spewing out blaring press releases and fund-raising appeals, appearing on cable TV shout-fests, and filing costly lawsuits. Instead, they are working on developing advocacy tools that emphasize community consensus building, compromise, and actively listening to and considering the other side's—and school leaders'—views.

Happy April Fool's Day

P.S. As it happens we've discovered we'd be remiss if we didn't doff a tip 'o the hat to what turns out to be the original April Fool's Day education blog... the Gladfly. We may not be big fans on most days, but there are several good chuckles to be had from this one.

Posted April 1, 2005 12:00 AM