ORE. SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS SAYS MARRIAGE AMENDMENT PROPONENTS MISLEADING: From the Associated Press

Oregon's superintendent of public instruction is upset over broadcast ads and statements in the voters' pamphlet that she says inaccurately link gay marriage to public schools' curriculums.

"They have no business using our public schools as part of this campaign," Schools Superintendent Susan Castillo said Tuesday. "Our schools have nothing to do with this measure. They are trying to create some sort of fear in our schools related to sexual orientation."

The passages that upset Castillo, a Democrat, were submitted by a diverse group of citizens, including Republican Rep. Wayne Scott, the current House Majority Leader, Clark Brody, a former deputy superintendent of public instruction, and David Crowe, the founder of a Christian group called "Restore America."

All three are in favor of Measure 36, which would amend Oregon's constitution to state that marriage can only be between a man and a woman.

Scott's statement reads in part, "The ACLU will surely force costly litigation on the state and school districts demanding that same sex marriage become a normal component of school curriculums. Teachers will be forced to teach sex education to middle school children based on the new interpretation of marriage in Oregon."

Dave Fidanque, the director of the Oregon chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the organization would not be filing any such lawsuit. ...

Castillo said that Oregon schools tend to focus discussions not on marriage, per se, but on more general family life.

"Perhaps half of our students have single parents, stepparents, foster parents," she said. "We don't define families, because that would leave a lot of kids out."

But Tim Nashif, political director of the Defense of Marriage Coalition, the key sponsors of Measure 36, said if gay marriage is legalized in Oregon, his group is convinced that local schools will have no legal choice but to put gay marriage on equal footing with heterosexual marriage, in accordance with potential changes in state standards.

more

posted by Eve at 7:51 PM | link

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home