Group Calls On Utah District To Stop Promoting "Democracy" In Mission Statement

The Salt Lake Tribune (4/1, Winters) reports, "Some Utah County parents are calling on the Alpine School District to stop spreading 'false educational ideas,'" namely, "its use of the" word, "democracy." Utah's Republic, "a group that advocates for a strict interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, asked the Alpine Board of Education" this week "to scrap its...mission statement," which reads: "Educating all students to ensure the future of our democracy." According to the group's founder, Oak Norton, the US "is a republic, not a democracy," which "relies solely on majority rule and inevitably devolves into anarchy, which then sprouts socialist dictators." Alpine responded with a statement on its Website that reads, "We chose 'our democracy' to reflect both a government with power vested in the people and our freedoms. We not only recognize that our government is a republic, but we value and participate in this form of government with an elected Board of Education."