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Home > Blogs > Springfield Schools News and Issues > Archives > 2009 > September > 04 > Entry
Obama to address nation’s students
In a 15-20 minute address Tuesday, Sept. 8, President Barack Obama will speak to the nation’s students about the “importance of education, the importance of staying in school, how we want to improve our education system and why its so important for our country.”
The U.S. Department of Education describes the speech as:
During this special address, the president will speak directly to the nation’s children and youth about persisting and succeeding in school. The president will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning.
The U.S.D.E. released suggested activities to go along with the speech; fairly basic stuff like discussing what the role of the president is for younger kids or discussing goals for yourself for older students. The activities all seemed pretty non-partisan to me but you can check them out for yourself here.
Of course the question of partisan or not will depend on what Obama actually says and it it supposed to be “party neutral,” from everything I have seen.
Some people are still upset about it though and in other parts of the country, it’s become a pretty big deal. I’m a member of a national group of education journalists, the Education Writers of America, and I’ve heard stories of protests outside of district offices and at board meetings. There’s concern that the speech and the suggested curriculum is a form of “political indoctrination.”
Some parents locally have asked that their child not be involved in anything related to the speech. I know the Greenon Local Schools district is planning to allow teachers to make decisions about how they will handle the speech and is not setting a district-wide stance; Superintendent Lori Lytle also said they have had some parents ask that their child not be part of listening to the speech and are treating it the same as any other objection to something in the curriculum. Lytle said she expects the speech to be inspirational and motivational and not to fall into party lines.
It looks like the White House is working to relieve some of the concerns. The text of the speech will be available prior to the actual event for review. The USDE made adjustments to its suggested activities in response to some of the criticism.
Obama isn’t the first president to speak directly to students and isn’t the first to cause controversy with it, as noted in the Education Week article. Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush both did it and the Bush one stirred the pot a bit. You can see the text of his address here.
I will be out at a school Tuesday during the speech talking to students and teachers about what they thought.
It would be fairly easy for Obama to make a speech to the nation’s students that most people would agree with: The majority of Republicans, Democrats and everyone in between agree that education is important and children should stay in school. Even the theme Obama is said to be highlighting, “personal responsibility,” is something most people agree with. It’s when we dig a little deeper into the specifics that we start to see disagreements. It’s also fairly easy to see where this could go bad.
What do you think of Obama’s speech to students? Teachers, will you be tuning in?
Check Saturday’s News-Sun to see what local districts are doing about Obama’s speech.
Permalink | Comments (19) | Post your comment | Categories: Politics
Comments
By Concerned Parent
September 4, 2009 11:58 AM | Link to this
Yes, I’m a republican, but even if a republican president was going to speak on the same topics as Obama, I would object as well. The president should keep to a simple speech about doing well in school and how important an education is. The excercises are riduculous and the schools should not participate in them.By willyd
September 4, 2009 12:14 PM | Link to this
No - just another step towards government rule. Don’t let it happen.By Stan
September 4, 2009 12:33 PM | Link to this
Great. Let’s develop a generation of adults who don’t know to deal with idea contrary to their own. Ignore and it will go away is no way to deal with issues. You must understand your enemy to defeat him. If you oppose the President’s policy, let your child watch then “indoctrinate” your child at home with the “correct” way of thinking. Don’t teach your kids to ignore. Plus how can a short speech undo all the hours and hours you spend with you kid at home?By UCTS
September 4, 2009 12:34 PM | Link to this
If the point of the speech all along was about staying in school then why is that phrase in NONE of the prep literature? Why isn’t work hard in school, don’t drop out, behave in class and do your homework not included? There’s talk about how students can implement the goals he talks about, but if you’re trying to make a push to get kids to stay in school & earn an education, then it would’ve included topics such as knowing where your library is, planning your time, helping others study, etc. And when are the parents going to be notified by the schools of this “curriculum” so they can make a decision about their child’s involvement? Even the former deputy assistant secretary for education said, “Federal statute denies any authority to the Dept. of Education to provide any kind of curriculum or anything that can be passed down to the state, and that’s part of the statute forming the Dept of Education. So they kinda got themselves into this mess because they didn’t really understand some of the key legal roles or the dos and don’ts at the federal Dept of Education.” After an uproar, the Dept. of Education was forced to change the wording of the assignments prefaced around “helping Obama” to “describe your short and long terms goals, etc.”. It smells of indoctrination, and they floated a trial balloon to see what the administration could get away with.By Leonard
September 4, 2009 12:49 PM | Link to this
I’ll be anxious to see how he can give the same message to 1st graders and high school seniors at the same time so it makes sense to both! I’m going to listen just to see how he can speak to both ages. The White House is supposed to be releasing the script on Monday for parents to review. Be sure to get a copy and read it, then decide.By sad state of affairs
September 4, 2009 12:52 PM | Link to this
its’ sad when people don’t want their children to hear from the President speak about the importance of education. i guess it’s best to raise ignorant children. were you upset on 9/11/2001 when W was personally sitting in a school reading to children? were you upset when his father, George HW Bush spoke to ALL children (like Obama will) about not doing drugs? hypocrites…By flipper
September 4, 2009 1:13 PM | Link to this
Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for Obama.By Bear
September 4, 2009 1:17 PM | Link to this
I think many school children in our country are without an inspiring role model and they also look up to our president; they see how he interacts with his own children and admire him for being a good father. What a wonderful thing that our president would take the time to bid the students to grow through learning!By David
September 4, 2009 1:31 PM | Link to this
It is a ‘sad state of affairs’ that not only has the president proven himself many times over to be someone not to be trusted, but is someone who has such a low opinion of American citizens.By enonite
September 4, 2009 1:43 PM | Link to this
“What are the three most important words in the speech? Rank them.” (for grades 7-12) You have got to be kidding. I did not and will not ever vote for President Obama. Having said that, he is in a position to be a poster child for disadvantaged children, and to demonstate the value of education. But alas, he is proven once again he is just a hack politician. Hopefully he will have his teleprompter.By the suddenseer
September 4, 2009 2:07 PM | Link to this
I have read that ignorance is bliss. Some of the ignorance I am reading here seems to be a bit disturbed. Some folks just cannot get over the reality that the MAJORITY of Americans elected a black man. Go stuff yourself with a teabag!By Howard Sanders
September 4, 2009 2:10 PM | Link to this
Doesn’t this man ever go to his office and work. He governs by cronies who are radical leftists. Is hop hopeing to become a dictator> If congress keeps giving up is powers, we can slip into a Venezuellian type of government.By Edukatem
September 4, 2009 2:19 PM | Link to this
May as well have the little ones get into politics since they will be the ones paying back the Chinese with all the money we borrowed from the last 6 months!By UCTS
September 4, 2009 2:32 PM | Link to this
Suddenseer - Today, Americans are still permitted to exercise their rights under the Constitution to hold the government accountable for their actions. Nice try, but calling people racist for doing so is a pathetic projection of your own bigotry, not ours. Not to mention the ‘racist’ meme is SO 2008. You may not yet be aware, but the majority of Americans now Disapprove of Obama, and it is because of his gross spending, radical appointments, acting like a salesman instead of a leader, getting (repeatedly) caught in his pathological lies, and his failed programs, just to name a few. You might want to strive to keep up.By gsr
September 4, 2009 2:52 PM | Link to this
Obama is imitating two leaders from the 1930’s—FDR and Hitler. His Unconstitutional spending and raising taxes is what FDR did to prolong the depression in the ‘30’s. Hitler made the Hitler Youth swear allegiance to him—not to the rule of law in Germany. The German army also took oaths to Hitler and not to their equivalent of our Constitution. So Obama is having kids pledge themselves to his plans and programs—a very, very subtle way of making the pledge to the leader and not to support and defend the Constitution. Americans had better wake up to the threat of our Constitutional way of law or our freedoms and prosperity will end very soon. We have squandered enough of our freedoms since the 1930’s.By voter
September 4, 2009 3:45 PM | Link to this
I would think this is a good think, but with Obama, it is all a show. “Look, children, study hard and learn from me so you can become president and hire every tax cheat and radical to create your own dictatorship.. and be so proud”. What a depressing time.By Teacher
September 4, 2009 4:00 PM | Link to this
I am a teacher, and I will not be showing the broadcast in my classroom. I am sure it will be replayed several times during the evening hours, and if students want to watch it, they can do it then.By Just a Reminder
September 5, 2009 11:34 PM | Link to this
1991: DEMS BLAST BUSH 41 SCHOOL SPEECH From the Washington Post, published Friday, October 4, 1991: Democrats assailed the Bush Administration today for spending $26,750 in taxpayer money to hire a production company that oversaw President Bush’s telecast from an eighth-grade classroom here to schoolchildren around the country on Tuesday. The money came from the Education Department’s salary and expense budget. As a result, Representative William D. Ford, the Michigan Democrat who heads the House Education and Labor Committee, demanded that Education Secretary Lamar Alexander appear before the committee to defend his “spending scarce education dollars to produce a media event.” And the House majority leader, Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, said, “The Department of Education should not be producing paid political advertising for the President. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Schoolchildren should not be indoctrinated in obedience to and service in support of the president of the United States. Our system is based on the rule of law, and a robust tradition of loyal opposition, not blind support for the president in power.By Leonard
September 7, 2009 2:16 PM | Link to this
I’m not a supporter of Pres. Obama’s program and actions so far, however, I took the opportunity to read his message to the school children in our schools. It is found on www.whitehouse.gov. The message is a good message for our children and encourages them to be responsibe for and set goals their own education. I couldn’t see any underlying message other than to inspire kids to set their educational goals and inspire them to work toward being the best they can be.