First Lady Michelle Obama will be making a stop today at a Miami high school. But Renier Diaz de la Portilla, a school-board member, wants the event canceled on the grounds that it amounts to a campaign visit.
Diaz de la Portilla said in a press release that “President Barack Obama’s liberal political machine planned the event at Barbara Goleman Senior High School in Miami Lakes even though the district has a very specific policy banning political activity in tax funded Miami-Dade public schools.”
Diaz de la Portilla is currently running as a Republican for a seat in the House and has served two terms as a state representative. He added: “The use of public schools, whose only focus should be to educate our children, for political gain is downright wrong . . . our schools are places for learning, not places for politicking.”
The Huffington Post reports that Walter Harvey, the school board’s attorney, claims that under the board’s policy, all groups, including political and religious, can apply to use schools facilities.
While I’d like to agree with Diaz de la Portilla that the school environment should not be the forum for campaigning, I’m inclined to dismiss this event — as long as our first lady sticks to those hot-button issues we’re all dying to hear about: the stress of gardening at the White House and sharing her “fashion forward” advice.