Parent Removed, Arrested at MD Board of Education 'Common Core' Meeting

A parent was removed from a Maryland State Board of Education meeting on the topic of the Common Core State Standards for speaking out of turn and then arrested.

According to the Baltimore Sun, Robert Small, 46, said he wanted to express his concern over his children’s new school curriculum during a question-and-answer session. He told the audience assembled that he believed the new curriculum was lowering the standards of education and preparing students only for community colleges.

The format of the forum required the public to submit questions ahead of time, and Baltimore County School Superintendent Dallas Dance was to read the questions and ask members of a panel to respond to them.

When Small stood and began to speak, Dance told him he believed his questions would be answered, but Small continued on until a security guard confronted him saying, “Let’s go. Let’s go.”

The Sun report indicates that, after displaying his badge, the officer grabbed Small’s arm and pulled him toward the aisle. As he was being taken out, Small said, “Don’t stand for this. You are sitting here like cattle.” Then, he asked, “Is this America?”

Michelle Malkin reports that Small was charged with second-degree assault of a police officer, “which carries a fine of $2,500 and up to 10 years in prison, and disturbing a school operation, which carries a fine of $2,500 and up to six months.”