To succeed in life, stay in school … unless you’re cutting class for the sake of progressive politics.
That’s the message Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh delivered to hundreds of high school students playing hooky outside City Hall in protest of gun violence. Shouting through the SWAT team’s microphone, Pugh cheered their little act of delinquency before offering taxpayer cash for the adolescent activists to march on the national capital. Flanked by Police Commissioner Darryl De Sousa, the mayor shouted, “Let’s show Washington D.C. that Baltimore matters.”
BREAKING: Baltimore @MayorPugh50 says the city is organizing 60 free buses to send students to DC for the march against gun violence later this month. Says “let’s show Washington DC that Baltimore matters.” Wants 3,000 city students there. Will be providing lunches and t-shirts. pic.twitter.com/g4QIoS9baA
— Kevin Rector (@RectorSun) March 6, 2018
Pugh promised free T-shirts and free lunches if the students will board 60 city buses later this month to protest gun violence. The grade school protestors, in exchange, will provide advocacy and a convenient photo-op for an ambitious politician.
But since when have cities become political action committees and their municipal budgets seed money for political organizing? The stunt is irresponsible and borderline abusive.
Meeting students at a general assembly is one thing. But Pugh cheered a school walk-out in a city were one-third of all public high schools don’t have even a single student proficient in math.
No one can fault students for a little rebellion. They’re just using their First Amendment rights in protest of a phenomenon they believe overwhelmingly affects them. But they should be doing it after school, of course. And a more responsible mayor would’ve focused on listening to students instead of recruiting them for further absences.
