The St. Paul police chief is urging students to be cool and stay in school… at least during the Republican National Convention, that is.
 

His concern is well-founded. The group Youth Against War and Racism has sent out a call to local high school and college students to walk out of school today to protest republican policies. Their web site explains:

The Republican National Convention is coming to town Sept. 1-4. We cannot allow business as usual to continue while our city is used to promote the unending occupation of Iraq, the militarization and underfunding of our schools, and attacks on social programs. That's why Youth Against War and Racism is calling for a massive student strike culminating in an antiwar festival and theatrical arrest and mock trial of the war criminals meeting in St. Paul.

Thousands of students will potentially skip out on class (what’s new?) but this time for a cause other than laziness. They will rally in protest of the Iraq war as well as demand funding for schools.
 

But the Police Chief John Harrington would rather them stick to reading and writing rather than protesting and politicking. The less trouble, the less work he has to do. WKBT.com reports his reaction:

Harrington says his department is in contact with school administrators to discourage a walkout and is prepared to respond if one happens.

He says he hopes students who want to protest the RNC on its final day will wait and take part in other events after school gets out for the day.

While his suggestion makes sense, it just doesn’t pack as much punch to wait until after class to kick some politician ass.