Pennsylvania Students Skip Class For Obama Event, Get Suspended

Joey Daniel and Colin Salter, two high school students in Dunmore, Pennsylvania, showed tremendous audacity yesterday when they skipped their gym class to attend an Obama event across the street from their school. But, upon their return, they did not KNOW HOPE because their principal suspended them for a day. The pair did manage to wrangle a pair of excuses, signed by the candidate, but school officials, being strict Constitutional constructionists, saw this as an unlawful federal encroachment upon the rights of local government. Will Senator Obama promise to forswear such unitary executive powers in the future, or does he remain in the pocket of Big Hall Pass? Ha, ha...levity! All right, everyone can go back to yelling at each other now!

[WATCH.]

REPORTER: You don't do it. You don't leave campus. But things have changed. These guys are getting suspended for a day, no big deal. I am joined by Joey Daniel and Colin Salter. You explain the story, they left campus, you guys left campus because you saw Barack Obama was going to be at the diner across the street and you got those signed notices, I would think the signed notices would get you back into class just fine. Show everybody at home. These are the little notices that he signed. Joey to class, excuse Joey, Barack Obama. Colin to class, excuse Colin, signed by Barack Obama. Didn't work out that way. What happened when you got back on campus?

DANIEL: Well when we got back, the principal didn't see Barack Obama, you know, as a valid excuse and we were suspended for today.

SALTER: Which is I guess justifiable because you are not supposed to leave grounds. So you break the rules, there are consequences, so, we got suspended and that's what happens.

REPORTER: But would you do it again? Because I think a lot of people at home and hear this story and think you know what? Good for them.

SALTER: Absolutely. Maybe a little differently, though.

DANIEL: I would do it in a heartbeat, the same way.

REPORTER: You said you would ask your mom next time. I'm sure she is happy to hear that but, I mean, really, you have to make a snap decision, you are going to do it, right?

SALTER: Snap decision, I did it. As we can see, that's the position we are in today but probably throw the call in maybe afterwards...make it legal as opposed to the way we did it yesterday.

DANIEL: I would probably do the same way. It added character to the day, and clearly it was a big hit.

REPORTER: What was it like to be in there and be right up and close and have a chance, I guess you got a chance to talk to him right?

SALTER: A little bit. He came in, greeted him. Hey, we are here, we are skipping gym class to be here.

DANIEL: Can you write us a pass? Yeah, sure!

REPORTER: Full disclosure, the guys did miss gym class but one of them actually also ended up missing an English test, I won't tell you which one ended up missing the English test, but we are told that he will be able to make it up.

Comments

[gevan]

Getting suspended for skipping school is like a CEO getting a bump in salary for losing a couple of millions. One would have thought that the local school administration would want to keep those kids IN school, rather than toss them out.

[sweetchuckd]

This story was mentioned on http://detentionslip.org. It's a great source for all the things teachers and students are getting into trouble for at schools. It seems our education system needs a little bit of a tune-up.

[66xray]

I can see now that Obama puts education last by signing an excuse for the kids to miss school. The right thing to do would have been to send them back.
Oh well, we're all screwed anyhow

[Geminess]

If I were their parents...and if there is no civics taught in that school, I'd demand that the suspension be expunged from their records. ALL of our children, especially teenagers who will be voting in a few years, must learn all they can about government and policies. Therefore, I'd chalk this up as an extra curricular activity and give these kids extra credit. Thats MY take on it.

[dadumdee]

What a suck ass school system we have. They could have used these two young men's enthusiasm to lead students in the most lively civics discussion ever, but instead they suspended them. Nice going. I mean, a young William Jefferson Clinton shaking hands with JFK probably planted the seed that grew in to the best Presidency of the modern era, and who would want something like that.

[booksnmore4you]

These students should not sweat this and their parents should be exceptionally understanding. This will never count against them in the long run, not even in the near future.

[BeyondGoodAndEvil2]

This is a really great story. Skipping class to meet the next President of the United States will be something they remember forever. I hope they keep their notes.

[MissingAmerica]

It is so important to get our young people involved in politics. They need to be encouraged, and this is not the way to do it. The school owes these young people a clean record and an apology.

[BroMan]

I agree MA. Don't we want our young kids engaged!! Damned if they do, damned if the don't. I would love it if the worse thing my kid did was skip gym class in order to meet a presidential candidate - arguably a harmless, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I'd say, "Show me the note!"

[Verite]

During my high school years, in those dreaded 1970s, we were allowed to take election day off to work on campaigns. Oh right, I forgot, back then public schools were still being run by folks who actually cared more about education than administrative rules. Well, thank goodness all those softhearted Roosevelt liberals are retired or dead, imagine thinking that participation in the electoral process itself might be educational? We now know better: No Child Left Behind Uber Alles!

[Catharsis]

Outstanding job! Now here's what you do next: pull a good prank on the administration by wheelbarrowing a pile of manure and depositing it right in the middle of the principal's office. It was done in my day and it was classic!

[Ddorsey]

Just another reason why Obama should be our next president. Since when do youth skip class to go see a politician speak? He can get so many people involved it is incredible. I think America is ready for a charismatic leader such as Barack Obama.

[tiredoflies]

ddorsey, when they want to get out of taking a test.

[rwe]

Hey progressos... Weather it was for Barack or McCain , the rules are there...Imagine if those kids were creamed by an Obama campaign worker bringing in the minions to the rally and were killed ... The parents would have sued the school district for millions if they let them go....Even if they did not get hurt the parents would have sued them for mental anguish

[PhilosophicalPotato]

So the solution is to sue the school district for not being good enough prison wardens?

Something just seems wrong about that.

[PhilosophicalPotato]

P.S. I don't know about you, but I prefer my childeren to be safe while at school, but not treated like criminals.

It's a fine balance, but it can be done.

[conservativesoncrack]

And because of such paranoia we let democracy pass? Dang! The whole school should have been at the rally!

[majseventh]

It wasn't a rally. It was a diner.
You need to have a written excuse from a parent with a valid reason, (illness, death in the family) to get out of a class or whole day of classes.
The school was right that it is local government versus federal government.
Obama was wrong to write an excuse for them. He should have known better. But, he was only thinking of himself.

It is good they were excited about seeing him, but you have to follow rules.
Obviously Obama can't.

[tiredoflies]

majseventh, As I recall Obamaholics are ALL about rules. They want the rules abided by regarding the FL and MI primaries, but it is okay not to follow the rules so two kids can go see their boy. Talk about double standards.

BTW, was that the diner where Obama wouldn't answer a foreign policy question cuz he just wanted to eat his waffle?

[S1m0n]

Thinking that says "punish the kid for skipping class by giving him the whole day off" is clearly not seeing a great big poortion of the picture.

[army193]

Hey, great for the Kids they will take the punishment is a class act...

[jiggystyles]

It's Down.

[bmnehls]

I guess this is how Obama will fix education, write a note for students who skip class to go see him and not stay in school to learn something. Does it matter that they went to a political rally, NO! They skipped class, who cares where they went, they should be in school, seeing as if something were to happen to them it would have been the school's fault. We all had to sit through class when we would have rather been somewhere else, but most don't skip class. Why is it even news that students were suspended for skipping class, it happens all the time around the country.

[Janskats]

Well, maybe when you skipped class, it was to watch the soaps or sneak a beer..or something else equally enriching. These kids had the intelligence and curiosity to want to go watch democracy in action. OMG..what a crime! Too bad it wasn't a government class they missed (they probably don't even teach that anymore, from some of the ignorant comments I read), because their teacher would have made them report on it for the whole class, and they might even have gotten a good grade for their efforts! Maybe these two are the next Bernstein and Woodward..which would be great, since investigative reporting is almost extinct now. For your information, learning isn't just sitting in a seat memorizing someone else's ideas..its challenging those old ideas and coming up with new ones of your own. Wish you'd have had that opportunity. It's never too late, grumpy gus!

[PhilosophicalPotato]

God forbid teenagers actually care enough about their country to get involved!! God really, really forbid that they actually WANT to go meet their future president!! Those lousy good-fer-nothins!!

By Gum, that principal was right in suspending them! High School isn't meant for teaching kids about the real world. I mean, what about all those tests they need to take?!?!?!

This is just further proof that Obama despises everything that is Holy in this world! Especially Gym and English tests!

Besides, doesn't he know that the LAST thing you want to do is encourage our future leaders to actually get INVOLVED? Why in the world would he want them to feel so Freakin' important?!? Is nothing sacred to that man?!?!

The world as we know it will surely end because of this....

[stateMachine]

It can't be good for your mind, willfully avoiding grasping the point like that. I'm sure this sort of cognitive denial, this sort of not putting two and two together, is habit forming, and bleeds into your professional life. Your politics isn't worth your intellectual honesty. Trust me.

[Softnsweet]

bmnehls

Quit your whining! you are just jealous because no one would run after Hillary like that.

[bmnehls]

I actually skipped my biology lab to go see Chelsea so i would say there are some people going after Hillary like that. But in high school I never once skipped class and never even thought about doing it.

As for janskats, learning isn't about coming up with new ideas, it is about knowing the facts that support those ideas and finding the flaws within those ideas. Also they do still teach government class in high school, in Ohio its normally your junior year.

[anney]

Oh, lighten up. It isn't often you get a once in a lifetime chance to see and talk with the next president.

[shubes61]

the ebay auction of Senator Obama's plate was removed... the owner of the Glider Diner asked the guy who took the stuff and put it on ebay to cancel the auction... it's gone now.

[BEHM777]

Give the kids a break! If there had been someone as dynamic across the street from my high school in my day, I'd have done the same thing. If my daughter or one of my sons were to do what these kids did, I'd talk to them about it, but they'd suffer no long term consequences. Now if my child was the one that had to make up the English test, he or she had better ace it. I have taught my children to be down-to-earth about everything except their grades.

[AceInTheHole]

I skipped school, back in 1945, to go and see Duke Ellington Band, at a matinée show , and I have never regretted it , in over 60 years, since it happened. And I'll bet you two of my Dobermans and one of my Pitbulls , against a dollar, that these young people will never regret skipping school, to go and see Obama.

[ThirdSection]

To top it off, you would have probably forgotten by now whatever it was they were teaching at school on the day you skipped, but the memories of Duke Ellington are probably still vivid!

[DragonMama]

OK, so basically these boys are saying: "I knew the rules, I willingly broke the rules because I saw more benefit from breaking them than following them, and I accept the consequences of breaking the rules and will not whine about it."

Wherever did they learn such morals? Clearly not from Hillary Keep-Moving-the-Goalposts Clinton or the Democratic Party representatives in Michigan or Florida... maybe the boys can tutor those folks while they're serving their suspension.

[kellygrrrl]

As a parent, I would take my daughter out of school to attend this event.

Real life and real experience is always the best education.

[kellygrrrl]

President Obama should pardon them
and expunge their records.

Viva Le Youth

[ThirdSection]

Even their PERMANENT records?

[Muskered]

The guy on the left looks a leetle bit too swarthy. I say we do a background check on him AFTER we rendition him. The guy on the right looks white and Christian enough, and even though he went to an Obama function, I think we can assume he's no threat.

[GoodGuysandBadGuys]

amusing to read the people here who are giving the kids shit.

come on people, would you pass up a once in a lifetime opportunity? good grief it was only one class.

I didn't give a damn about politics in high school, so I am glad to see the young kids engaged. this is something they will remember for the rest of their lives, and it may encourage them to be civically active as adults. ultimately a much bigger benefit for them than 1 class.

and I would say the same thing no matter which candidate they went to see.

[DazHype]

lol... well there goes their kickball scholarship...