The principal, a Jehovah’s Witness, does not recite the pledge because her religion forbids followers to salute any nation’s flag. Staffers gripe she doesn’t stand in respect during the school-wide ritual.
The song uproar comes amid tensions. Hawkins has been called a tyrant and bully by some staffers.
The DOE reprimanded her in 2010 after teachers complained she called the school “racist” and declared: “I’m black. Your previous principal was white and Jewish. More of us are coming.
EXCLUSIVE: Coney Island principal refuses to let kindergarten students sing "God Bless the USA" at graduation, but Justin Bieber's "Baby" is OK - NYPOST.com
Last Updated: 11:30 AM, June 10, 2012
A controversial Coney Island principal has pulled the plug on patriotism.
Her refusal to let students sing “God Bless the USA” at their graduation has sparked fireworks at a school filled with proud immigrants.
Greta Hawkins, principal of PS 90, the Edna Cohen School, won’t allow kindergartners to belt out the beloved Lee Greenwood ballad, also known as “Proud to be an American,” at their moving-up ceremony.
...She told the teachers to drop the song from the program.“We don’t want to offend other cultures,” they quoted her as explaining.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/school_silences_patriotic_song_xdunXcLPbE8S2rAEcZoUiP#ixzz1xTN90BgY
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