The girls basketball team of Illinois' Highland Park High School will not be playing in a tournament in Arizona to protest that state's new immigration law. It was not the team members nor their parents who made that decision, it was District 113 Assistant Superintendent Suzan Hebson who said the trip "would not be aligned with our beliefs and values." Just whose beliefs and values would that be?

Continued...

One team member's parent told reporters that the girls on the team are very upset, "It was a big disappointment. They've been baking cookies to earn money for this and they were just very surprised. They just want to play basketball, that's all, these girls just want to play basketball." (source)

Team member Lauren Evans said, "It shouldn't be a problem. I don't think it makes much sense. We shouldn't be a threat. We just want to play basketball." District 113 Superintendent George Fornero declined comment and referred calls to Assistant Superintendent Hebson. (source)

According to the latest national poll, 59% of Americans support Arizona's new law which gives police increased powers to stop and detain people who are suspected of being in the country illegally.and 73% approve of requiring people to show police documents verifying their legal status. (source) But a very vocal minority are calling for various boycotts of Arizona because of the law and evidently those calls are being answered by educators without input from students or parents.

In a related incident, there is some question as to why the Great Oak High School marching band from Temecula, California will not be participating in the Fiesta Bowl Band Competition in Arizona. A local radio station claimed that the band was pulling out of the competition to protest the new law but Temecula Valley Unified Superintendent Carol Leighty subsequently issued a statement saying "The decision for the band not to participate in this out-of-state competition was driven by a desire to conserve funds, not as a political statement." (source)

While educators have the same rights as any other American to protest what they want to protest and boycott those entities with which they take issue, they do not have the right to drag students into the fray. Depriving students of opportunities in order to appease their educators' politics is simply and utterly wrong.