WTF? Department

Here's a story from my home state that caught my attention...

ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. -- A seventh-grade teacher's assignment to write a letter asking President Bush to send troops home from Iraq has brought an apology from a North Carolina schools superintendent.

That sentence was about the entirely of the TV story -- with the exception that the anchors were saying "..apology to the President" whereas those last three words don't appear anywhere in the print version of the story.

The print story expands a bit on this by saying the reason (rationalization?) for the apology is that it was "inappropriate because [it] didn't allow for individual opinions."

I still find this story bogus -- probably because I'm not in favor of the war and never was -- although I can sort of get behind the "no options" bit. I still wonder why the superintendent felt it necessary to apologize to the preznit over this. I also wonder about the rest of the story -- did any of the students complain about this assignment? Did any ask the teacher for an alternative? Or was this something some wingnut parent took offense at and created a stink?

Well, unfortunately for anyone reading this, I'm not one of those investigative bloggers that's going to be calling everyone and his brother to figure this stuff out. But if any of you hypothetical readers hear anything, let me know.