3-2 vote to recite pledge not enough for veterans

By Bob Susnjara

August 4, 2000 Web posted at: 11:02 AM EDT (1502 GMT)

LAKE COUNTY, Illinois (Daily Herald) -- Some local war veterans and a community activist are criticizing a Lake County school board for not forging a unanimous vote in deciding to recite the Pledge of Allegiance before each meeting.

Persian Gulf War veteran Peter Karlovics and community activist Jerry Kolar are among the critics of the Gurnee Elementary District 56 board's 3-2 vote on June 7 in favor of saying the pledge, with two abstentions. The board began reciting the Pledge of Allegiance on June 28.

District board members who did not favor the pledge cited all the business being conducted in limited time during monthly meetings.

Although District 56 becomes one of the few Lake County school boards to say the pledge, Karlovics said the lukewarm vote should be strengthened.

	More from Daily Herald
	Jobs Autos

"I'd call on them to take a new vote and to pass it unanimously," said Karlovics, an American Legion Post 771 member in Gurnee. "The Pledge of Allegiance should not be controversial."

Numerous Chicago-area village boards and city councils, along with the U.S. Senate and House, say the pledge before getting to business. But the pledge apparently has not become a staple of school board meetings.

In an informal check of nine Lake County school districts, only two boards begin meetings with the pledge: Warren Township High School and the Woodland elementary district, which serve Gurnee and other areas.The Libertyville Elementary and Wauconda Unit district school boards are part of the majority not reciting the pledge.

Kolar, a member of Citizens for Responsible Government in Gurnee, asked the District 56 board to start reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. He said he does not understand how anyone could have voted against the pledge.

"I don't like it because it's un-American," Kolar said. "We have people who've died for that flag."

District 56 board member Mark Arthur said he voted for the Pledge of Allegiance and understands why representatives of a taxing body would be expected to incorporate it into their meetings. He said he was glad officials were asked to start saying the pledge.

Arthur said he sometimes wondered during his eight-year tenure on the District 56 board why he and his colleagues had not been reciting the pledge.

"We are community representatives," he said.

Board member Marcia Bleck, who voted against the pledge, said "we shouldn't add one more thing" to an already busy schedule. She said she has nothing against the Pledge of Allegiance.

Board member Deidre Boettle-Horan, one of those who sat on the fence with an abstention, said she wanted other board members to decide the issue.

"I understood the issues for 'no.' I understood the issues for 'yes,'" Boettle-Horan said.

For more Local news, myCNN.com will bring you news from the areas and subjects you select.

CO, Colorado Springs, KKTV CO, Denver KCNC CO, Denver, KWGN IL, Chicago, WGN IL, Decatur, WAND IL, East Peoria, WEEK IL, Quincy, KHQA   IA, Des Moines, KCCI KS, Wichita, KAKE KS, Topeka, KTKA KS, Wichita, KWCH MN, Minneapolis/St. Paul, KMSP MO, Kansas City, KCTV MT, Billings KTVQ   MT, Great Falls, KFBB ND, Fargo, KXJB ON, Barrie, NEWVR ON, Toronto, CITYTV WI, Green Bay, WLUK WI, Milwaukee, WISN