SCHOOL BOARD DEFENDS “OCCUPY” SONG SUNG BY
8-YEAR-OLDS
January 4, 2012 – Third-graders at Woodbrook Elementary in Charlottesville, Virginia, sang a song at a
school performance on October 21, 2001, whose lyrics mirror the sentiments and slogans espoused by the
Occupy movement and make a class-warfare related statement.
According to CBS 19 News in Virginia, some conservative bloggers have called this political indoctrination of
third-graders and a violation of the trust that parents put in schools.
Some of the lyrics of the song titled, “Part of the 99,” are below:
Some people have it all
But they still don't think they have enough
They want more money
A faster ride
They're not content
Never satisfied
Yes – they’re the 1 percent
I used to be one of the 1 percent
I worked all the time
Never saw my family
Couldn't make life rhyme
Then the bubble burst
It really, really hurt
I lost my money
Lost my pride
Lost my home
Now I'm part of the 99
The performance of the song was organized by “Kid Pan Alley,” a group that goes into schools “to inspire
kids to be creators,” CBS News reported.
Steve Koleszar, Albemarle County School Board Chair, told CBS News, “The kids choose the topic . . . and
those are their words.” Koleszar said Kid Pan Alley does not censor or shape what the children write.
According to FoxNews.com, the controversy surrounding the song was first reported by the Weasel Zippers
website.
“They’re actually claiming third-grade children wrote these lyrics and chose the topic as well,” Weasel Zippers
wrote. “Because what eight-year-old child isn’t obsessed with class warfare?”
8-YEAR-OLDS
January 4, 2012 – Third-graders at Woodbrook Elementary in Charlottesville, Virginia, sang a song at a
school performance on October 21, 2001, whose lyrics mirror the sentiments and slogans espoused by the
Occupy movement and make a class-warfare related statement.
According to CBS 19 News in Virginia, some conservative bloggers have called this political indoctrination of
third-graders and a violation of the trust that parents put in schools.
Some of the lyrics of the song titled, “Part of the 99,” are below:
Some people have it all
But they still don't think they have enough
They want more money
A faster ride
They're not content
Never satisfied
Yes – they’re the 1 percent
I used to be one of the 1 percent
I worked all the time
Never saw my family
Couldn't make life rhyme
Then the bubble burst
It really, really hurt
I lost my money
Lost my pride
Lost my home
Now I'm part of the 99
The performance of the song was organized by “Kid Pan Alley,” a group that goes into schools “to inspire
kids to be creators,” CBS News reported.
Steve Koleszar, Albemarle County School Board Chair, told CBS News, “The kids choose the topic . . . and
those are their words.” Koleszar said Kid Pan Alley does not censor or shape what the children write.
According to FoxNews.com, the controversy surrounding the song was first reported by the Weasel Zippers
website.
“They’re actually claiming third-grade children wrote these lyrics and chose the topic as well,” Weasel Zippers
wrote. “Because what eight-year-old child isn’t obsessed with class warfare?”
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