Obama goes back to school

[Dimmauk]

Obama goes back to school


On September 8, in what the Department of Education is touting as a "historic" speech, President Obama will be talking directly to students across the U.S., live on the White House website. But some parents and conservatives are blasting the president, calling the speech an excuse to brainwash American children.

Last month, in an interview with 11-year-old student reporter Damon Weaver, the president announced his big back-to-school plan:

"I'm going to be making a big speech to young people all across the country about the importance of education; about the importance of staying in school; how we want to improve our education system and why it’s so important for the country. So I hope everybody tunes in."

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan sent a letter to the nation's principals, inviting schools to watch the speech and included suggested classroom activities. But Jim Greer, the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, came out swinging against the planned speech. An excerpt from his statement:

"The address scheduled for September 8, 2009, does not allow for healthy debate on the President's agenda, but rather obligates the youngest children in our public school system to agree with our President's initiatives or be ostracized by their teachers and classmates."

NBC spoke with Katie Gordon, a spokeswoman for the Florida Republican Party, who said the party's "beef" is with the accompanying lesson plans. The guide for pre-K through grade 6 suggests questions students think about during the speech, such as "What is the President trying to tell me? What is the President asking me to do?"

The plan for grades 7-12 includes a "guided discussion," with suggested topics: "What resonated with you from President Obama's speech? What is President Obama inspiring you to do?"

The Cato Institute, a public-policy research foundation, issued a press release entitled "Hey Obama, Leave Those Kids Alone," criticizing the "troubling buzzwords" in the lesson plans:

"It's one thing for a president to encourage all kids to work hard and stay in school – that's a reasonable use of the bully pulpit. It's another thing entirely, however, to have the U.S. Department of Education send detailed instructions to public schools nationwide on how to glorify the president and the presidency, and push them to drive social change."

Across the blogosphere, comments covered the spectrum, from critical to supportive, and from one student, a little anger:

"I sent my children to school to be educated NOT indoctrinated." — justamom

"The fact that people want to keep their kids from hearing the President of the United States encourage them to do well in school shows a true level of ignorance." — Firefey

"As an 9th grade student, I'd like to say that 1. I'm not sure why everyone is so scared that we'll all be brainwashed by the President ... 2. My school is one that is not allowing us to watch the speech, and quite frankly, I'm pissed." — Willbw

Both Presidents George Bush and Ronald Reagan both gave speeches aimed specifically at students that were nationally televised. In 1989, Bush delivered a televised anti-drug speech, and Reagan's 1986 commencement speech and Q&A session was "beamed over public television into 171 school districts," according to the L.A. Times.

It's worth noting that schools are, encouraged, not required, to air the speech. The Houston Chronicle reports that one Dallas school district is leaving the decision to individual teachers. Susan Dacus, spokeswoman for the Wylie school district, says parents who don't want their children to see it can opt out.

In an ironic twist, one Missouri school won't be airing the speech because of a lack of funding. Michelle Baumstark, spokeswoman for Columbia public schools, told the Columbia Daily Tribune, "We don’t have the funding or the equipment to support that type of broadcasting.”


There are some school districts here in Texas that are flat out not showing his speech. I think there are 8-9 other states that have school district that are no showing this either. Some schools are recording the speech while some of the school facility and some parents watch it first, then determine if it is suitable for the children. Some Parents are threatening to remove their kids from school for the day of the speech if the school does show it.

In my opinion, this is a new low for Right wing supporters. The President has spoken to kids before, but this is the first time it has become an issue. I think its disgusting that the Republican supports are going this far.

[Acturus]

I, for the life of me, can't figure out the validity to some of these arguments.

People come to speak to schools all the time, at the school's discretion. We'll drag "Just Say No" campaigns in front of auditoriums, but we won't let teachers present a short speech from the leader of the nation?

Next we'll hear that parents are demanding to have their children opt out of the President's Fitness Challenge (or do schools not do that anymore?)

[Tyche]

One of my employees came in complaining about this yesterday. Now, I generally lean conservative, but I really don't understand the outrage. One of the biggest issues in our educational system is a complete lack of progression in political education in public schools. Kids can vote for the president when they're a high school senior, but most high schools offer no political science classes. Anytime there's an opportunity to provoke a political discussion in a public school system, I'm all in favor.

[Woozie]

No, I will NOT tolerate the president telling my kids to do well in school. This is just inexcusable! For him to even attempt to do such a thing...what a horrible person.

[Olo401]

I've been in absolute disbelief over the sickening partisan reaction from the reich-wing idiots in this country to this. No wait, it's not partisan at all. It's just plain BULLSHIT. Their only motivation for this is not having voted for the man, and their desire to undermine everything positive, or even traditional, he tries to do.

When I was in grade school, Reagan did this exact same thing. In fact, my social studies teacher taped it so we could discuss it in parts over a two week period. When I was in middle school, Bush 41 did it too. And when I was in high school, Clinton did it. I wasn't in the classroom for Bush 43 myself, but I do recall him being in a classroom reading a book about a goat when a certain event happened. I'm sure presidents that were in office before my time in school addressed students on this subject as well, though not necessarily televised. It's practically become a tradition, at least in the last 50 years anyways, for the leader of this country to encourage students to do their best and to stay in school.

And now you have a gang of sore fucking losers who are so bent out of shape that they're out of power that they're actually telling students not to go to school to hear a speech about the importance of education and staying in school?!

[Ramor]

Logical arguments won't work on people who oppose this, that should be painfully obvious by now; stupid schools are stupid.

[Dimmauk]

People are absolutely losing their minds lately. People are shouting at handicapped people in townhalls, people are getting their fingers bitten off at protests, and people are showing up with guns to Health care town halls. And now people are taking their kids out of school, cause Obama wants to talk to them about staying in school and not doing drugs, and how they are the future.

[OctavoGilgamesh]

I live in a terribly conservative area, where most people are terrible uniformed and only care about illegal immigrants, guns, taxes and whatever bs fox news and the green bay press gazette is spewing out.

It sickens me to see that parents would want to keep their kids home from school during the president's address. A lot of the middle class economic struggles of the Midwest are caused by a lack of education, and trying to shield kids from the world around them is part of the cause.

That being said, most school districts in the area are going to archive the address and leave it up to the teachers as to whether or not they will show the speech.

[Alleya]

We don't send our kids to school to be indoctrinated, huh?

I wonder if they actually know what schools are?

[Dimmauk]

Avlon: ‘Wingnuts’ try to politicize president’s talk to kids
John Avlon - CNN Contributor


As a heated wingnut summer heads to a close, we look at a new GOP “socialist” attack on President Obama for speaking to school children, a ‘brain dead’ attack on Democratic centrists and, in a bonus round, a callous conspiracy theory just in time for the 8th anniversary of 9/11.

President Obama is slated to give a speech to America’s school children next Tuesday on the subject of taking personal responsibility for their success in school.

Last time I checked, personal responsibility and socialism were opposite concepts, but that didn’t stop Florida GOP Chair Jim Greer from firing off an unhinged press release. Here’s an excerpt:

“As the father of four children, I am absolutely appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama’s socialist ideology … I do not support using our children as tools to spread liberal propaganda. The address scheduled for September 8, 2009, does not allow for healthy debate on the President’s agenda, but rather obligates the youngest children in our public school system to agree with our President’s initiatives or be ostracized by their teachers and classmates…Now that school is back in session, President Obama has turned to American’s children to spread his liberal lies, indoctrinating American’s youngest children before they have a chance to decide for themselves.”

Greer accused the president of using the speech to promote his political agenda – though the speech was never slated to cover policy. The Department of Education did change language in a lesson plan that suggested students write a letter about how they would help the president after hearing him speak. PolitiFact’s Truth-o-Meter did a rundown on the ‘controversy’ and published its results with a “Pants on Fire” ruling.

This knee-jerk name-calling and hyper-partisan hysteria is the latest sign that things have become completely unhinged inside the hotbox of the GOP. Accusing the president of having a “socialist ideology” and spreading “liberal lies” and “propaganda” don’t even raise common sense – or common decency – concerns.

Wingnuts live in a world without perspective, and those on the right are trying to turn the President of the United States into a fearful figure in order to score partisan points with their base. Only the far, far left fringe would have accused President Bush of having a ‘fascist ideology” – and they would have rightly been laughed off the stage. These statements are coming from GOP party officials – politicizing a talk to school kids by the President of the United States. Stay classy, GOP.

[Alleya]

People who talk like this have never had the immense pleasure of disagreeing with their teacher as a kid.

Good luck doing that no matter what their political leaning.

I got suspended for suggesting that democracy is not the penultimate political system.

In the 4th grade.

[Olo401]

Again, no one protested when Reagan addressed students in the 80s on the same subject. And as one of my friends remembered, he also brought up tax cuts.

[Dimmauk]

People who talk like this have never had the immense pleasure of disagreeing with their teacher as a kid.

Good luck doing that no matter what their political leaning.

I got suspended for suggesting that democracy is not the penultimate political system.

In the 4th grade.

I got suspended for saying Penis is health class. This was in 11th grade. Ok, maybe I shouldnt have said it like Dana Carvey.

[Dimmauk]

Hey remember when George W. Bush made a call for all American children to send one dollar to be used to help the children of Afghanistan who are in dire need of food and medicine.

[Olo401]

Conservative media take note: Reagan preached tax cut gospel to America's students | Media Matters for America

On November 14, 1988, Reagan addressed and took questions from students from four area middle schools in the Old Executive Office Building. According to press secretary Marlin Fitzwater, the speech was broadcast live and rebroadcast by C-Span, and Instructional Television Network fed the program “to schools nationwide on three different days.” Much of Reagan’s speech that day covered the American “vision of self-government” and the need “to keep faith with the unfinished vision of the greatness and wonder of America” but in the middle of the speech, the president went off on a tangent about the importance of low taxes....

I was in 7th grade when this happened, and though I got the basics of civic discourse I was still too young to understand all the stuff about taxes. Reading it now, and you have to wonder whether the "indoctrination" being decried now didn't happen then.

[Senoska]

I got sent to the office a week after 9/11 for saying Bush was going to destroy the country. I also refused to stay quiet for the "moment of silence" that we had to observe the day after. Fuck that noise, moment of silence my butt. They called my mom and had a "parental meeting" with the principle and vice principle of the school as well as a few of my teachers. My mom told them to eat her ass and walked out.

But seriously.. on topic: can we disown the south yet?

[Headspace]

Did you happen to see the documents the Dept of Education sent along to the districts as well? You might want to look that up. THAT is rather creepy.

I don't think anyone has a problem with the Pres addressing students - personally I think it should be a televised event that parents can sit down with their children and watch, maybe, oh say during prime-time, as opposed to a broadcast that by-passes the parents like this one. The the "learning guides" sent out to the districts smacks of, AT THE VERY LEAST, partisan politics and at the most indoctrination and hero worship.

I was in Salt Lake this week for business and I heard on the news about the school in Farmington, UT showing the "I will serve Barrack Obama" video - parents are ""ssed!!!! As well they should be. This man and his followers are truly getting scary.

If you can't see some frightening similarities to some not so distant history you've got blinders on!

[Senoska]

You watch far too much fox news.

video incoming.
edit:

[zoobernut]

Did you happen to see the documents the Dept of Education sent along to the districts as well? You might want to look that up. THAT is rather creepy.

I don't think anyone has a problem with the Pres addressing students - personally I think it should be a televised event that parents can sit down with their children and watch, maybe, oh say during prime-time, as opposed to a broadcast that by-passes the parents like this one. The the "learning guides" sent out to the districts smacks of, AT THE VERY LEAST, partisan politics and at the most indoctrination and hero worship.

I was in Salt Lake this week for business and I heard on the news about the school in Farmington, UT showing the "I will serve Barrack Obama" video - parents are ""ssed!!!! As well they should be. This man and his followers are truly getting scary.

If you can't see some frightening similarities to some not so distant history you've got blinders on!

Yes because no president EVER in history has EVER addressed kids in school while their parents are not there. It has never happened so this extreme paranoia is more than grounded. I can't even believe that the President of the USA would want to make a public address to public schools. The audacity. Only a socialist with an agenda would want to do something like that.

Spoiler: show

This whole things is fucking retarded.

[Headspace]

Only a socialist with an agenda would want to do something like that.

Thank you for agreeing with me.