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发帖数: 3803 | 1 another ACORN meal-on-wheel bus?
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-principal-
suspended-polls,0,2189546.story
Lawsuit: Ohio school district pushed high school students to vote for
Democratic candidates
CINCINNATI (AP) — A high school principal has been suspended after a claim
that students were taken to a voting precinct house on a field trip, shown
how to vote and given Democratic sample ballots.
An anti-tax group sued Cincinnati Public Schools over the Oct. 13 trip by
Hughes High School students to the Hamilton County Board of Elections. The
Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes charges the trip violated
a pact with the district.
The district suspended Hughes principal Virginia Rhodes on Friday for as
long as two weeks with pay. A disciplinary hearing will be held Wednesday
for Dennis McFadden, social studies teacher who took the students to the
board headquarters.
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The district said in a statement Monday that it was investigating for any
policy violations.
The students taken to vote were given Democratic sample ballots, The
Cincinnati Enquirer reported.
COAST attorney Chris Finney said Monday that the district engaged in "one-
sided political activity" by handing out sample ballots only for Democratic
candidates.
"If the students had not been given instructions on how to vote or had been
provided with equal access to information on other candidates, that would
have been fine," Finney said.
Students were accompanied to and met at the board by people associated with
Democratic campaigns, Finney said.
Messages were left Monday at the school for Rhodes and McFadden. Their home
phone numbers were not immediately available.
The coalition claims the district violated a 2002 agreement reached after an
earlier lawsuit against the schools over equal access in a school levy
campaign.
The new lawsuit says the district agreed to a policy preventing district
property and workers from being used for "promulgation and distribution of
printed and electronic messages advocating the election or defeat of
candidates for public office."
Coalition co-founder Tom Brinkman Jr., the Republican candidate for Hamilton
County auditor, filed the lawsuit.
The district said it will investigate whether all students were at least 18
years old, had parental permission and were adequately supervised.
An internal investigation already determined "there was no intent to sway
votes" on the trip, but did indicate the trip may have lacked oversight, the
Enquirer quoted district Superintendent Mary as saying last week.
A message seeking additional comment was left at the district Monday. |
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