SAN BRUNO PARK SCHOOL DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT ALLOWS LABOR UNION TO PUT ARMBANDS ON STUDENTS. A DANGEROUS, COSTLY PRECEDENT WITH AN UGLY HISTORY.

by Bill Baker, J.D.
Editor and Publisher, The San Bruno Beacon

Teachers in the San Bruno Park School District (SBPSD) are pushing students under their control to wear armbands, identifying themselves as supporters of the teacher's March 4th union demonstrations. This sets a dangerous precedent and raises some ugly memories about other children who were used, as ideological tools, by being pushed and/or forced into wearing armbands by the adults who controlled their lives.

I would suggest that all of the teachers in the San Bruno Park School District, who are so anxious to have their students wear armbands, teach the Holocaust Armband Lesson to their classes. This lesson is sponsored by The Board of Jewish Education of Metropolitan Chicago. Perhaps these SBPSD teachers would not be so enthusiastic about putting armbands on their students after teaching this valuable lesson.

Here's an e-mail message from SBPSD Superintendent Hutt on the armband issue:

Attached Message

From:	David Hutt <dhutt@sbpsd.k12.ca.us>
To:
Cc:	martinez460@sanbrunocable.com; atthebat@hotmail.com
Subject:	RE: Questions about March 4th
Date:	Mon, 1 Mar 2010 08:17:55 -0800

Good morning -

The requirement to be on campus is from the Contract which says, in part, "no more than 30 minutes prior to the beginning of students' instructional day."  They would be able to pass out flyers.  SBEA (San Bruno Education Association -- i.e., the union) has advised, confirmed by support from PTA/PTO, that "supplies" will be provided by the Association, not school district.

 

Secondly, the distribution of any materials, including "armbands" can NOT disrupt the instructional mission of the school.  Principals were briefed on this element at last week's AMT meeting.  Should a parent "dress" their student at home, including an armband and such armband does not disrupt the instructional activities of the school, then it is permissible.  I spoke with district legal counsel last week, confirming this interpretation. If any materials were deemed disruptive in the judgment of the principal then it would be removed and held for return to the parent at the end of the school day, much in the same way a "disruptive" toy is held and returned to the owner at the end of the day.  I am not sure who "they" is alluding to, but SBEA has been very understanding and cognizant of the scope and range of the framework for the upcoming day's events.  PTA/PTO is also very supportive and is working to engage an after school and off campus level of demonstration for those interested.

 

I have not heard of any uneasiness" on the part of parents in sending their children to a day of schooling.  Have you?

Hope this response helps.

=================================================================

 

If principals in the SBPSD allow students to wear armbands supporting the unions that the teachers in their schools belong to, they are setting the San Bruno Park School District up for future lawsuits from:

 

1). disgruntled parents whose children do not wear armbands and make the claim their child was intimidated or treated unfairly because they did not wear an armband.  

 

2). disgruntled parents who claim their children were intimidated into wearing armbands supporting their teacher's union.

 

3).  future individuals or groups of students who the SBPSD tries to stop from wearing armbands that advertise whatever they want to advertise with their armbands.

 

How many hundreds of thousands of dollars are these lawsuits going to cost the SBPSD?

 

In the San Bruno Park School District (SBPSD) we have the San Bruno Education Association – SBEA and the California School Employees Association – CSEA – Chapter 139 who think that by creating a major disruption in the educations of students (approximately 31.5% of whom will never graduate from high school), to support the unions in the SBPSD, they will advance the cause of saving their jobs and propping up their salary and benefit packages.

The "Stand Up for Schools" rhetoric being fed to people by the California Teachers Association (CTA) gives the unions an excuse to rope students and parents into demonstrating for the public school union members who do not want to face the economic reality that they have priced themselves out of the labor market and must take wage, benefit and job cuts to help keep the public schools afloat.

Because their salaries represent approximately 80% of the SBPSD Budget, if these demonstration happy union members were really serious about "saving our schools", they would agree to job cuts for some members and substantial pay-benefit cuts for other union members to help offset the budget problems the SBPSD is now facing.

But I digress. The real issue here is that the teacher union members, mentioned in the previous paragraphs, want students in the SBPSD to wear armbands showing their support for the union members who teach them.

Here's the problem with teachers, who are union members, talking children under their control into wearing armbands to support their cause:

1). Armbands impact identity in that teachers can readily see which students support them. Students not wearing armbands are viewed as non-supporters. The expectation is that students who wear armbands will receive favorable treatment over students who do not wear armbands.

2). Armbands impact a student's choice and behavior. Students wearing armbands supporting their teacher believe they are in a superior position vis-a-vis their peers who do not wear an armband. They act on this assumption.

3). Armbands are a proven tool of intimidation that have been used by extremist groups to identify supporters and punish non-supporters.

Example:

The fanatic NAZIS fully understood the value of using armbands to identify supporters and enemies. Members of the NAZI Party and children in the Hitler Youth movement wore NAZI armbands to identify themselves as NAZIs. On the other hand, the NAZIs forced members of the Jewish community, and their children, to wear armbands identifying themselves as Jews.