Some parents object to what they see as proselytizing by their kids' schools. Mark D. Hill, who until recently was chairman of the Republican party in Marin County, says some mothers called him upset when their children came home from Bacich Elementary School in Kentfield, Calif., with fliers stuffed in their backpacks advertising a screening of "An Inconvenient Truth." The parents thought the public school shouldn't promote the screening, which was paid for by a local parent, because they considered it a political statement.
Sally Peck, the principal of Bacich, disagrees. "We have a responsibility to educate our children," she says.
Mr. Hill says the mothers worried their children would be criticized if they spoke out, so they kept their names secret. "It's very scary for mothers," he says. "They kind of go with the programs because they don't want to be viewed as trouble-makers."