[Philmont]: Boy Scouts Equal Access Regulation, Comments Solicited

Friends: This is not a Philmont issue, but a very important Boy Scout
issue. I requested and received permission from the List Administrator
before publishing it. Those who have no interest in non-Philmont topics
may stop here and delete without harm, with my apologies. Everyone
else, I hope you will act upon this, and forward it across your own
e-nets asap. Thanks.

- Dr. Bob Klein, SM-111, Arlington, VA

Preface: As you are aware, the BSA has lost access to public schools
and other public facilities in many hundreds of school districts,
especially in and around the large cities. We all know why, but in the
interests of keeping this communication non-inflammatory, I will not
comment further. In any case, these actions have greatly harmed
recruiting in the BSA, especially in a some areas of the country. You
may live in an area where such actions have not occurred, but believe me
they are expanding nationwide, and quickly. Here in National Cap, we
have either lost (or had greatly restricted) our access to the public
schools in several of our large counties.

The No Child Left Behind Act included the Equal Access regulation for
ensuring access by the Scouts and similar "patriotic youth groups" to
public schools. [BTW, this is one of the hidden reasons why some
politicians were so vehemently opposed to the NCLB Act.] In my opinion
this is the last good chance to recover and permanently retain our
access to the schools and similar facilities such as public parks.

Although this solicitation came out about 3 weeks ago, I just recently
found out about the Regulation and invitation for commentary. The
window to comment closes on December 3rd. BSA National doesn't appear
to be doing anything about this, and really doesn't even seem to know
about it, or its importance (I have notified my local Scout
Professionals, and have asked them to get a move on). Numbers are
*critical*. So basically, we have three weeks left to generate as many
millions of positive comments as we possibly can, in order to ensure the
passage of this regulation. Please participate, and please help spread
the word.

- Dr. Bob

Here is the solicitation:

Department of Education Solicits Comments for Equal Access for Scouts
in Public School Facilities

The U.S. Department of Education is seeking public comment on proposed
regulations that guarantee equal access to public school facilities for
the Boy Scouts of America and other patriotic youth groups, Secretary of
Education Rod Paige announced today. On behalf of Secretary Paige,
Assistant Secretary of Education Ray Simon and the Office for Civil
Rights' Ken Marcus joined Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee for an event to
discuss the proposed regulations at Ellen Smith Elementary School in
Conway, Ark.

"The goal of these regulations is to ensure that the Boy Scouts and
other patriotic youth groups have equal access to public facilities, and
today's action is another step toward achieving this goal," Secretary
Paige said.

The proposed regulations enforce the Boy Scouts of America Equal Access
Act, which requires public schools that receive federal education funds
to provide the Boy Scouts and other designated patriotic youth
organizations under federal law (including, among others, Big Brothers
Big Sisters, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Girl Scouts of the U.S.A.
and Little League Baseball, Inc.) with equal access to school facilities
as compared to outside community and youth groups. The law also requires
that these patriotic youth groups be given equal access to school
activities and school-related communication tools (e.g., bulletin
boards) as compared to other outside community and youth groups.
Congress passed the Boy Scouts Act as part of the bipartisan No Child
Left Behind education reforms and charged the Department's Office for
Civil Rights with enforcing the law.

The proposed regulations will appear in an upcoming edition of the
Federal Register and there is a 45-day public comment period from the
date of publication. The Secretary expects to publish the final
regulations after reviewing comments from the public.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the Boy Scouts have the right to
set their own standards for leadership. Schools must respect that right
and not exclude the Boy Scouts because of its membership and leadership
policies and oath of allegiance to God and country.

The Department invites public comment. Comments can be sent to Kenneth
L. Marcus, Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education, 400
Maryland Ave., S.W., Room 6095 Potomac Center Plaza, Washington, D.C.,
20202-1100. Comments also can be emailed to boyscoutscomments@ed.gov or
www.regulations.gov.

All public comments will be available for inspection both during and
after the public comment period. Persons wishing to view the comments
may do so at the Department of Education--Potomac Center Plaza, 550 12th
St. S.W., Room 6128, Washington, D.C., between 9:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
each business day except federal holidays.

http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2004/10/10132004.html

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Received on Mon Nov 8 08:41:46 2004