Pledge to be replaced with “Wolf Pack Chant”
A public charter school in Atlanta announced last week that it would be dropping the traditional morning recital of the Pledge of Allegiance in its classrooms and instead recite the “Wolf Pack Chant,” an anthem to the school’s mascot.
“Students will continue to lead the meeting by asking our community to stand to participate in our Wolf Pack Chant together. Students will also be given the opportunity to say the pledge at another point during the school day within their classroom,” the school’s elementary campus president Lara Zelski declared in a press release.
Zelski added that “This decision was made in an effort to begin our day as a fully inclusive and connected community… we want everyone in our school family to start their day in a positive manner”—apparently reciting the Pledge of Allegiance is not part of a “positive” or “inclusive” start to the day for students and faculty at the [Atlanta Neighborhood Charter School][1] (ANCS).
News of the school’s decision to eliminate the pledge quickly became national news and prompted widespread criticism. In the wake of the controversy, it appears that ANCS has now reversed their decision. The original press release announcing the elimination of the pledge has been replaced on the school’s website by a letter from Lia Santos, the Board Chair of ANCS, stating that students will continue to recite the pledge every morning:
“Atlanta Neighborhood Charter School has and will continue to provide students with an opportunity to recite the Pledge of Allegiance each school day. In the past, the Pledge of Allegiance was recited during our all-school morning meeting, but at the start of the school year, the daily practice was moved to classrooms… it appears there was some miscommunication and inconsistency in the rollout. Starting next week, we will return to our original format and provide our students with the opportunity to recite the Pledge during the all-school morning meeting.”
Board Chair Santos’ statement is clearly a late attempt at damage control. There was no “miscommunication and inconsistency” in the initial message from the school president declaring the Pledge to be the enemy of a “fully inclusive and connected community.” The pledge has survived at ANCS only because the patriots of Georgia—and the nation–made their views to the contrary known, putting pressure on the Board to reinstate the pledge. It is an object lesson in the importance of vigilance. While our eyes are averted, leftist educators will attempt to force their views on our nation’s children, until and unless we expose their campaign of indoctrination and demand that it cease.
[1]: https://atlncs.org/history/