It has pitted parents rights against their children's constitutional rights.
The controversy centers around this question: Do you, as a parent, have a right to be notified if your school-age child refuses to recite the Pledge of Allegiance?
The answer is no.
"It takes the decision-making process out of the parents' hands. As a parent myself, if my daughter wasn't saying the pledge in school, I would want to know that," said Stephen Furst of the Easton Area School District.
The Easton Area School District is one of the last districts in the state that allows teachers to notify parents if their child refuses to recite the Pledge.
All schools were allowed to notify parents until six years ago. That was when a federal court ruled that parental notification in these cases violates the child's right to free speech, no matter how young the child is.
The only reason this issue is surfacing now is because the Easton Area school board is expected to revoke the notification policy in an effort to avoid potential lawsuits.
Many Easton educators say they understand that the law is the law. However, they're very concerned about the precedent this sets.
"Think about it, what's next? What else will the appeals court say we can't do or say to parents about their children," Furst said.
Most of the parents Action News spoke to on Monday agreed.
"Considering that they send home information on body mass index and what they eat for lunch, it would be helpful to know what else is going on in school," said Sue Newquist of Easton.
Action News spoke about the case with Gary Asteak, a well known defense attorney in Easton. He says parents who have a problem with this issue really have two choices:
They can take it up with the courts, or they can take it up with their kids.
"If they want to find out what their kid is doing in school, maybe when they come home, instead of plugging in the video games and turning on the TV, they have a little conversation with their kid about what happened in school today," Asteak said.
The board is expected to vote on the issue this Thursday.
