Student Forced to Remove American Flag T-Shirt

Officials at the Merced County school confirmed Thursday that Jake Shelly was forced to take off a red, white and blue tie-dyed American flag T-shirt on Tuesday. The shirt said nothing offensive, just: “United States of America, Washington, D.C.”

The school’s assistant principal issued Shelly a bright yellow T-shirt that read “DCV: Dress Code Violator” to wear for the rest of the day. He was given his shirt back after classes ended.

“It was really embarrassing and humiliating to have to wear that all day — and just for supporting your country,” his sister Kaycee Shelly said.

Kaycee Shelly told members of the media at lunchtime that her brother was overwhelmed and did not want to do any more interviews.

Earlier in the day, he was speaking with a local news station when an unidentified teacher walked up to him, ripped off the microphone clipped to his shirt and told him he was not allowed to talk to the media.

MCAS foes renew call to scrap test

BOSTON - Dozens of education professors in the state’s public college system are calling on Gov. Deval Patrick to scrap the MCAS test.

The teachers point to preliminary data showing that half the state’s public schools have failed to make adequate progress toward meeting federal No Child Left Behind standards for at least two years in a row.

That’s up from 37 percent a year ago.

Fifth Grader Suspended For Wearing Anti-Obama Shirt

An 11-year-old boy in Colorado was suspended from school after he refused to take off a shirt that read, “Obama is a terrorist’s best friend.” His father says that the school is violating his son’s First Amendment rights.

Daxx Dalton, a fifth grader at Aurora Frontier K-8 School in Aurora, Colo., wore the homemade shirt on a day when students were asked to show their patriotism by wearing red, white and blue, according to MyFOXColorado.com.

When he was given the choice of turning the shirt inside out or being suspended, Dalton chose suspension.

Dann Dalton, the boy’s father — a “proud conservative” who has taken part in anti-abortion protests — told MyFOXColorado.com that the school is making a mistake by suspending his son.

“It’s the public school system,” he said. “Let’s be honest, it’s full of liberal loons.”