Our definitions of
democratic freedom and how to achieve it derive from different intellectual and moral
traditions, as do our beliefs about what's worth learning, what counts as achievement, and, most important, what kind of
school is best for children and society.
The moral imperative for the NJDOE, the NJ Legislature, and for individual
school districts should be to act in the best interests of New Jersey children, and that means treating students humanely if their parents choose to participate in the
democratic tradition of dissent.