NJ Must Observe Certain Holidays, But Not Teach Them In Schools, page 1

Under a law proposed by New Jersey State Senator John Adler, a Democrat, NJ schools will cease being required to teach students about Veterans Day, Memorial Day and Thanksgiving, among others. State law still would require that the holidays be observed with the day off. Veterans groups are outraged, and the governor still hasn't decided how to proceed on this issue.

www.washingtonpost.com

TRENTON, N.J. -- For World War II veteran Sam Stia, a legislative proposal that would cease requiring New Jersey schools to teach about Veterans Day and Memorial Day can be summed up in two words. "That's wrong," Stia, 83, said Thursday from his Hamilton home, where he flies an American flag at half-staff to honor fallen soldiers. "We're just giving our flag away and our patriotism away."

Stia and other veterans are steamed about the proposal, which the state lawmakers unanimously passed last month and now awaits action by the governor. It was included as part of a larger measure designed to help control property taxes, mostly by abolishing some laws on school purchasing and public hearings.

New Jersey schools must observe the holidays under a 1967 law designed to promote "the development of a higher spirit of patriotism." Florida, Nebraska and Washington are among states with similar laws.

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What is the point of this proposal? Supposedly, it is to "give schools more flexibility to decide holiday observations." But that sounds like a precursor to removing these holidays and replacing them with other, more politically correct days to me.

Students will now be required to take the day off of school, and have no inkling of the significance of why they are being granted the day off. How long will it take until these veterans's sacrifices are nothing more than a distant memory?

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