Saturday, February 23, 2008

I read with alarm the Feb. 17 Metro article describing how a children's book about two male penguins that hatch and parent a chick was pulled from library shelves in Loudoun County elementary schools after a parent complained.

Perhaps Superintendent Edgar B. Hatrick III thought he appeased both sides of this controversy by removing the book from circulation while leaving it available to parents and teachers. However, he ignored the review process to align himself with an unidentified parent who evidently thinks everyone's children must be shielded from the book's message of tolerance. I wonder how many other books have disappeared behind the librarian's desk in this manner and how many more are waiting to be unilaterally banned.

Worse, Mr. Hatrick decided to subject teachers to relentless parental second-guessing rather than support them with a countywide vetting process for educational material. Mr. Hatrick's willingness to circumvent the review process has a chilling effect on teachers' everyday decision-making, and it is censorship through intimidation.

It might be time for some parents to consider home-schooling their children. Public schools are just that -- public. In theory, no one group is allowed to impose its perspectives on the school system without due process. Except in Loudoun County, where they can trust the superintendent to ignore the voice of the majority in favor of the few he

respects.

JAMIE McINTYRE

Sterling