You do love America, don’t you?

That’s what Section 8 of SB 1566 is about. It requires the board to adopt a policy to allow the principal to let a representative of a “patriotic society” that has “youth membership” to have an opportunity to speak to students “during regular school hours” about membership in the organization.  The policy has to leave date and time to the “complete discretion” of the principal, and it can authorize the principal to limit this opportunity to only 10 minutes, just once a year.

The term “patriotic society” is defined in Title 36 of the United States Code. There are 91 organizations listed there, but not all of them are “youth membership” organizations. So we think you can turn down the request from organizations that kids would not be eligible for. This would include:

There are also organizations that seem a little too limited for this purpose:

*American Hospital of Paris (we think they mean France, not Texas)

*National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (what could be more patriotic!)

*National Ski Patrol Systems, Inc. (bigger in Colorado than here)

*Society of American Florists and Horticulturists (membership blooming)

Then you have some stronger candidates:

*Boys and Girls Clubs of America

*Big Brothers—Big Sisters of America

*Future Farmers of America

*Boy Scouts—Girl Scouts

*Little League Baseball

Have fun with this one!

DAWG BONE: THERE SHOULD BE A SEPARATE CATEGORY JUST FOR VETERANS: YOU’VE GOT EX-POWs, GI FORUM, AMVETS (WW II, KOREA, VIETNAM), BLINDED VETS, CATHOLIC VETS, DISABLED VETS, PARALYZED VETS, ITALIAN-AMERICAN VETS, JEWISH WAR VETS (THERE ARE TWO SUCH ORGANIZATIONS), PURPLE HEART WINNERS, PEARL HARBOR SURVIVORS, POLISH VETS, SONS OF UNION VETS OF THE CIVIL WAR, VIETNAM VETS, WAC VETS, WW I VETS, THE VFW AND THE AFOREMENTIONED SUBMARINE VETS.