SALINE, Mich. — The Saline Board of Education will wait for the state Legislature to act before going ahead with a proposal to require students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance daily, according to The Saline Reporter. The House is currently considering legislation that would make the pledge mandatory for all public schools.
Dave Holden, the trustee who proposed adopting the mandatory Pledge policy, agreed that waiting for the state is the best course of action, according to the Reporter.
"I've spoken with a number of members of the House who intend to bring the measure forward in the near term. In their views, that's probably in the next four months," he told the Reporter. "I have the confidence level that it will be approved and become part of our program starting next year.”
The Reporter noted that not all board members were comfortable with a statewide mandate.
"I am as patriotic as the next guy," trustee Todd Carter told the Reporter, "but we need to just stay aware that we don't want the state coming in and telling us how to run our school. I don't need Big Brother coming down here and telling me to stand up and salute the flag. I will choose to do that myself."
SOURCE:
The Saline Reporter, “Board of Education to let Michigan Legislature consider Pledge of Allegiance mandate first,” Jan. 25, 2012
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Report, “Saline schools consider mandating ‘Pledge of Allegiance’,” Jan. 16, 2012
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