Increasingly we are hearing reports in the media about partisan politics being offered to the American children within the sanctity of the classroom. This practice can in no way, shape or form be considered by the American educational system or by the American people as tolerable.

In Vermont, a parent was denied access to his children and access to their school by the principal and an armed guard while a school sanctioned peace rally was held inside. The concerned parent was even denied information about what was being said to his children and because of his insistence on knowing what was going on in his own children’s school, a public school that his tax money funds, he was arrested for trespassing as he forced the issue.

In Illinois, a school newspaper reporter doing a follow-up article on a piece she wrote about the legal aspects of the potential conflict in Iraq was told by a social studies teacher, a teacher charged with teaching our children about our countries government and how it works, that the only reason for the potential action in Iraq was to detract from the economic environment in the United States.

All over the country high school and college students are encouraged by their instructors, people who are charged to educate rather than pontificate, to leave the classroom and take to the streets in protest of the possible conflict in Iraq that now faces our country even though they are devoid of all of the facts of the matter, all sanctioned by the educational institutions administration.

In California, children are being prevented from saying the Pledge of Allegiance in their classrooms because of one person’s narcissistic and misguided assertion that the words "under God", included within its text, violate the separation of church and state.

By asserting partisan political views in the classroom, whether it be the views of the teacher, the school administration or of an activist parent is to commit a grave injustice against our children. It is tantamount to censorship; the omission of all the facts of the matter to further an opinion-based cause and should be considered most dangerous.

It is absolutely imperative that children grow up with a respect for opposing viewpoints and that they learn to develop how to weigh all the factors of any given situation so that they themselves can formulate their own opinion. This crucial part of a child’s educational development must take place and be nurtured regardless of the instructing teacher’s beliefs, the school administration’s individual beliefs and the beliefs of any elected official charged with overseeing the education of our children. Neither can the sanctity of the classroom be breeched by the secular opinions of activism. By having those who are entrusted with the education of our children asserting their beliefs and opinions onto these impressionable minds is to rob them, is to deny them, the opportunity to grow into adults who can efficiently and successfully gather information and formulate an educated individual opinion. Sadly, we are seeing the exact opposite of this important tenant being applied in a majority of the schools around the nation.

It is interesting to note that the most common viewpoint taken up by these so-called educators*, the viewpoint being forced upon our children in each of these instances and many others around the country that didn’t rate being included in the media’s outrage of the day, is almost verbatim from the liberal agenda. Because of this, it is fair to assume that the peace rally in Vermont didn't afford the children the opposing viewpoint; they didn't even let a concerned parent in.

Liberalism is without a doubt the major partisan gender within the teaching community of the United States today. The National Education Association is a firm supporter of the liberal Democratic Party and all of the state level teacher’s union organizations invariably follow suit. They have given enormous monetary support to Democratic candidates at every level of government for decades and use their clout to further the liberal agenda, which they believe in. This in itself is not what is most disturbing although it is truly disturbing to some, me included, that this issue should even exist within our educational system. What is most disturbing is when their political agenda reaches into the classroom. It needs to be pointed out that none of these organizations have issued advisory statements to their rank and file stating that they should either present both sides of the argument when it comes to political and/or controversial issues of the day without bias or they should not address the issues at all. Instead they give their silent approval as these nurturers of young minds offer their editorialization of the events of the day employing a liberally partisan slant that is cheating our children out of a most valuable learning experience and tainting their minds on a daily basis.

In order to afford our children the quality education that President Bush has said is crucial for the good of our country it will become absolutely necessary to eliminate all partisan views from the classroom and to demand that the national and state teacher's unions divest their political investment in the Democratic Party and one-sided liberalism. Never having admitted their intense partisan position, the Democratic Party, if they truly believe in the sanctity of choice, should therefore support this divestment as fair and good for the country. They need to embrace and foster the idea of total viewpoint presentation and the right of individual decision, something that they have professed to believe in but have never, ever employed. If they shy away from this issue they will simply be proving to the nation that they desire to feed their addiction to power rather than securing a fair and balanced education for our children.

If the United States stands for fairness and equal treatment it must start with our own children. If we fail our children in this very elementary way we will be seeking the demise of our country.

(* - I refrain from including all educators into this generalization as I personally know many who do not agree with what the majority of those who employ these tactics or the unions which foster the atmosphere that allows it to happen.)

Frank Salvato is a political media consultant and the managing editor for The New Media Journal.us. He is a contributing writer for The Washington Dispatch, GOPUSA, OpinionEditorials, Men’s News Daily, Canada Free Press & AmericanDaily. His pieces are regularly featured in Townhall.com. He has appeared as a guest on The O’Reilly Factor, The Kevin Matthews Radio Show (Chicago) and The Brad Messer Radio Show (San Antonio). His pieces have been recognized by the Japan Center for Conflict Prevention and are occasionally featured in The Washington Times and The London Morning Paper as well as other national and international publications.