N.J. school drops pledge to teachers - New York News | NYC Breaking News

After receiving complaints about a New Jersey elementary school's pledge of allegiance to teachers, the school district says it has opted to rewrite the pledge as a school song instead.

"Over the summer, a school spirit song will be created to replace the pledge, and will be put into effect for the 2012-13 school year," The Marlboro Board of Education said in a news release.

For the past decade, every Monday of the school year at Asher Holmes Elementary School in Morganville, N.J., has started with students reciting a pledge honoring the Marlboro Township School District and its teachers, who "help [students] learn" all they need to "know for the future."

The pledge was written by a fourth-grade teacher and did not replace the Pledge of Allegiance, which is recited every day and is also optional.

"I pledge allegiance to Asher Holmes and the Marlboro Township School District and to the teachers who help us learn all that we need to know for the future," the pledge states. "We promise to respect ourselves and others, to try our best and always be proud of our schools."

And until last week, not a single parent had complained about the pledge. But Valerie Kaufman, a mother of a student at the school, told the Marlboro Township Board of Education during a June 12 meeting that she found the pledge to be unconstitutional and suggested administrators "do away" with the practice.

Board member BonnieSue Rosenwald agreed with Kaufman, saying she found the practice to be "inappropriate" since students were likely saluting the flag while reciting the school pledge.

Superintendent David Abbott said Kaufman's complaint was the first he had received pertaining to the optional pledge.

FoxNews.com's Joshua Rhett Miller contributed to this report.

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