title:  Bernie Sanders Blocked From Speaking At Iowa High School, Guess Who They Let Speak Instead
text: Urbandale High School students worked hard to get a presidential candidate come to speak at their school in Urbandale, Iowa. Both Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump said that they would come speak to at the high school. Trump ended up speaking during the school s homecoming. Sanders was blocked by the administration.The Des Moines Register reports on the story, saying: The billionaire Republican visited the high school s homecoming in September after students launched a month-long campaign to recruit a presidential candidate to campus. Students had also reached out to the campaign of Bernie Sanders, who couldn t make the fall homecoming dance, but expressed interest in a later visit. Campaign officials recently tried to firm up Sanders  visit, but were turned down by school administrators. Students say they were told that another candidate visit would be too much of an administrative hassle. There were allegations of the school playing favoritism by only letting a Republican candidate speak to the school. The move prompted a backlash from some of the students. We let Donald Trump come as a presidential candidate, but in reality the main focus of his appearance at our school was that he was a high-profile celebrity,  said Josh Ingham, a senior at the school.  So we wanted a politician that is only involved in politics. So when the administration turned down this opportunity, we were kind of surprised and outraged since the campaign directly contacted our school. We had the opportunity. Ultimately, the matter was resolved with a somewhat weak compromise. Sanders wasn t allowed to speak at the school but some Urbandale students were given reserved seats at a Sanders  event. They were able to meet Sanders back stage at the event.The Des Moines Register reports that Ingham who, along with other students, was about to launch a petition to get the school s administration to reverse their decision, got a very special shout out from Sanders at the event: Sanders  Iowa staffers reserved prime seats at his Saturday evening appearance at the Iowa State Fairgrounds and set up a quick meet-and-greet with the candidate. About 25 Urbandale students gathered backstage behind a black curtain that separated them from the crowd of more than 1,500 waiting for the Vermont senator s arrival.When Sanders reached the venue, he handed a microphone over to Ingham and asked him to tell the group what had happened at the school. He told them standing up to their school was  a very brave thing to do. It s great that those students who attended the event got to have that experience. However, it is antithetical to the idea of civics education to have only one candidate, from one party speak. Representative democracy is about having candidates present their ideas, and then letting people decide who they agree with. When an institution only lets one side of the aisle speak, all they are doing is providing another bully pulpit for that party or candidate. Which is totally not cool.At least some of those students learned a valuable lesson. When the establishment screws you over   organize.Featured Image Credit:By Michael Vadon (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons