New Secretary of Education shows her intolerance

[IowaStatePhiPsi]

In a half-hour episode of the PBS children's series "Postcards from Buster" originally scheduled to air February 2, the titular animated bunny visits a Vermont family headed up by … well, we're all adults here, so let's just say it: two mommies. Brand-new Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, who just took office on Monday, has already sent a letter to the producers decrying the episode, which is entitled "Sugartime!" Though, as this CNN story notes, the show's "focus is on farm life and maple sugaring," Spellings has insisted that the seal of the Department of Education be removed from the offending program, along with any statement suggesting a link between the two. She also requested that PBS give member stations a heads-up on the content of "Sugartime!", so they can decide for themselves whether to air it or not. Finally, she has suggested that PBS return any government money used to produce the episode, noting sternly that "You can be assured that in the future the department will be more clear as to its expectations for any future programming that it funds."

This country lost its marbles and isn't even looking for them any more.

http://www.slate.com/id/2112706/

I mean really... We can't have kids getting this idea that tollerance is acceptable... Being tollerant is something Christ might do.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/liv...ards_decision/

Fallout from 'Postcards' decision
Family angry over PBS move to shelve show featuring lesbians
By Suzanne C. Ryan and Mark Shanahan, Globe Staff | January 27, 2005

Karen Pike agreed to be a part of a children's show about families, and now she feels she's under attack.

This week, the new US secretary of education, Margaret Spellings, denounced PBS for spending public funds to tape an episode of a children's program that features Pike, a lesbian, her partner, Gillian Pieper, and their 11-year-old daughter, Emma. The installment of ''Postcards From Buster," which is produced locally at WGBH-TV (Channel 2) and which had been scheduled to air March 23, was promptly dropped by PBS, which is refusing to distribute the footage to its 349 member stations.

''It makes me sick," said Pike, a 42-year-old photographer in Hinesburg, Vt., who united with Pieper in a civil union in 2001. ''I'm actually aghast at the hatred stemming from such an important person in our government. . . . Her first official act was to denounce my family, and to denounce PBS for putting on a program that shows my family as loving, moral, and committed."

The decision by PBS caused a ripple across the nation yesterday. Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic National Committee chairman, charged in a statement that the secretary is ''confined to a very narrow and selfish agenda if her first action in office is to threaten an American institution like PBS. While America's schools are crumbling and our students are falling behind in basic skills, Republicans in Washington are too busy pursuing an intolerant agenda to try to solve the real problems."

MSNBC ran an online poll questioning readers about the PBS decision. The results were not immediately known.

And WGBH, along with at least 12 other PBS stations, including WNET-TV in New York and KVIE-TV in Sacramento, declared that it would air the episode anyway.

''The program aims to find kids who can help us see the array of American life that children experience," said Jeanne Hopkins, a WGBH spokeswoman. ''The parents and the family structure is a backdrop to the show. We would not exclude any children because of who their parents are. We think that's an appropriate approach for public television."

On WGBH, ''Postcards From Buster" airs weekdays at 5:30 p.m. The series, part animated and part live action, stars an 8-year-old rabbit who travels around the country with his father, an airplane pilot. In each episode, Buster visits with children to learn about their way of life. Real children are taped in segments; Buster's voice is heard in the background.

The show, which launched last year and targets 6- to 10-year-olds, has profiled more than 40 families -- examples include children living with single parents, and five siblings who live in a trailer and share a bedroom.

In the controversial ''Sugartime!" episode, Pike and Pieper are in their home with Emma. Another scene features a second lesbian couple and their daughter, who join Pike and Pieper for a meal.

Pike had met with the show's producers about a book she was working on, and in the course of their conversation, they met Emma.

They liked her daughter so much, Pike said, that they invited her and her parents to appear on the show.

''I thought we were doing this wonderful little show with PBS, which I respect so greatly, or did respect so greatly," she said.

Last week, PBS agreed with WGBH that it was appropriate to air. On Friday, a PBS spokeswoman said that the PBS president, Pat Mitchell, had viewed the episode and was satisfied with its contents, especially in light of the fact that WGBH pushed back the air date of the episode from Feb. 2 to March 23 to allow member stations time to review the contents.

Over the weekend, Mitchell had second thoughts, said Wayne Godwin, chief operating officer of PBS. Her concern, he said, was that ''the debate surrounding this might cause parents to be concerned about PBS as a safe harbor. There is a concern that this particular material at this age group might not be appropriate."

Godwin said that Mitchell reached her decision before she received a letter from Spellings. Godwin said he does not agree with those who say the government is censoring public television. ''There's always a tendency to dash to that conclusion," he said.

In fact, Godwin said, PBS needs to evaluate itself to determine how such an episode reached an ''advanced stage of acceptance without us having more thoughtful involvement."

One result of this incident may be the creation of a panel that would evaluate whether children's programming is suitable for broadcast, he said. One of their charges would be to establish criteria for judging whether a show is staying true to its stated mission, such as preparing children for school.

In her letter to Mitchell Tuesday, Spellings complained that the ''Postcards" episode -- which is funded by the federal Ready-to-Learn program -- did not meet the objectives of Congress to ''use the television medium to help prepare preschool age children for school."

Yesterday, Susan Aspey, a spokeswoman for Spellings, reiterated the department's position. ''We felt it was inappropriate for the target audience," she said.

At least one member station said that it would not air the episode, even though WGBH will make it available. Jeanette Thornbrue, a manager in the programming department at OETA-TV (Channel 11) in Oklahoma City, said her station will download whatever is on the PBS satellite feed that day instead.

''Oklahoma is very conservative," she said. ''We've had off-the-wall phone calls when nothing was happening." She added that one viewer complained about an episode of ''Teletubbies" in which the characters were dancing. ''They thought that was too much," she said.

Some observers expressed concern about the effect that Spellings would have on PBS children's programming. ''She may make it very difficult for this program and many others to get funded, and that's terrible because WGBH is the premiere place for kids to get educated by the electronic media," said Peggy Charren, a WGBH board member.

Charren, who has seen the now-famous episode of ''Postcards From Buster," said this entire controversy is ''shocking" considering the content of the show, which she said is mild. ''You learn about maple syrup and how it gets made," she said. ''You learn about cows and where milk comes from. There is so little detail about the lesbian parents."