Advocacy the Montgomery County way

Is it just me or is it somewhat odd for a parent to be arrested (second item) when discussing his kid's elementary school work with school officials?

I don't know. I've lived for over 20 years in Montgomery County, where helicopter parenting takes on a whole new meaning, and yet this still seems a little out of line.

Scott Rogers, an outspoken Damascus parent who is well known on parent Internet lists, has been banned from his son's elementary school for a year following an incident that he describes as a protest arrest this month.

And here's the funniest line of the month in the Post. I can't even tell whether it was meant to be funny, because the writing on education matters is so totally dead serious, just the way you'd expect in this county.

School system officials often disagree with parents on whether a gifted child is properly challenged, but such disputes seldom end in arrest.

But school officials apparently didn't see the humor; rather, they went promptly into lockdown mode:

According to Principal Linda Goldberg, Rogers raised his voice, pointed his finger at staff "in a threatening manner" and pursued them loudly into the main office, leading school officials to put the campus on Code Blue, an emergency procedure.

When Rogers refused to leave, police were summoned. According to an arrest document, the 6-foot-4 Rogers "stood up, cupped his hands around his mouth and screamed very loudly, 'I am Rosa Parks. I will not ride on the back of the bus.'"

So Mr. Rogers had to take his cardigan to jail, and while he was there, the next Rosa Parks probably followed Martin Luther King and wrote a letter from the county jail.