Florida Schools Let Democrats Register Kids To Vote But Not GOP

Pasco County Schools (a west central Florida school district, home to New Port Richey) are under fire for allowing Democrats to register kids to vote and promoting Barack Obama, but not allowing Republicans.  According to Fox News, which is investigating the situation, Organizing For America was allowed access to students in at least six schools (both middle and high), and students were registered to vote, though no-one knows how many yet.

One former teacher volunteer (who was later fired from Organizing For America) was encouraging high school kids to vote for Obama.

“She got into six classrooms and gave pro-Obama speeches – like way off to the left,” said James Mathieu, general counsel for the Pasco County Republican Party. “That got out to parents and parents complained.”

Matthieu told Fox News he has filed a complained with the Florida Division of Elections and also contacted the Florida Attorney General’s office.
“We have a liberal culture in our school system and we know that,” he told Fox News. “The problem is someone has used false credentials, false pretenses and there is a security issue.”

Mathieu said that some of the Organizing for America volunteers identified themselves to school officials as being with the local elections office. “These people have used false pretense to get into the high schools and all they’re giving us is whitewash and lip service,” he said.

And yet, Republicans who had asked for "equal access", and were initially given approval, were later denied.

Although most were up front about working with Organizing For America, there were some who blatantly lied about being with the Pasco Supervisor of elections.

The schools have yet to explain why they let Democrats but not Republicans on to their campuses. John Mann, from Pasco County Schools, said:

“There was definitely discussion of having a Republican come in for equal access." “We’re not going in that direction because that would indeed be an additional violation of board policy."

 And Pasco county isn't the only county school district pumping for Obama. One Pinellas county high school principal encouraged students to campaign for Obama.

Reuben Hepburn, the principal at Dunedin High School, made an announcement over the public address system about volunteer opportunities with the Obama campaign and Organizing for America, The Tampa Bay Times reported.

A school spokesperson said the incident came to light after a parent complained.

“The mistake there was that (Hepburn) promoted one specific organization that supports one specific candidate,” spokesperson Melanie Marquez told the newspaper. “It’s okay to say, ‘Hey, you can volunteer for political campaigns.’ But it’s not a good idea to focus on one organization.”

Hey, no kidding. Encourage the kids to vote, but don't tell them who to vote for. Just more evidence of how prevalent liberal indoctrination is in our schools and universities.