Obama goes back to school

[Senoska]

Thank you for agreeing with me.

Do you even know what Socialism is?

[Alleya]

Maybe not. But he knows what trolling is!

[Olo401]

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.

Link or gt... nevermind I got it myself.

Teachers Guide For Grades K-6 (PDF)
Teachers Guide for Grades 7-12 (PDF)
FAQ Page

You find a civics lesson creepy? You find introspective learning creepy? You must have been really fucking annoyed with the whole process of going to school and doing lessons/homework then.

[MrW]

Free country yada yada. Can we merge the bad parenting thread with this one? Taking your kids out of school for thinking the leader of our nation is going to spread social propaganda and brainwash our kids is absolutely ridiculous. But I've been exposed to the Florida and New York school systems so who am I to say such things!

[Dimmauk]

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

Obama speech to students sparks new controversy
AP


When kids all across the country return to school Tuesday, some will see a welcoming message from President Barack Obama and some won't.

Obama's planned address to students has touched off yet another confrontation with Republican critics, who have battered the White House over health care and now accuse the president of foisting a political agenda on children.

The president will speak directly to students Tuesday about the need to work hard and stay in school. His address will be shown live on the White House Web site and on C-SPAN at noon EDT, a time when classrooms across the country will be able to tune in.

Schools don't have to show it. But districts across the country have been inundated with phone calls from parents and are struggling to address the controversy that broke out after Education Secretary Arne Duncan sent a letter to principals urging schools to tune in.

Districts in states including Texas, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Virginia and Wisconsin have decided not to show the speech to students. Others are still thinking it over or are letting parents have their kids opt out.

Some conservatives, driven by radio pundits and bloggers, are urging schools and parents to boycott the address. They say Obama is using the opportunity to promote a political agenda and is overstepping the boundaries of federal involvement in schools.

"As far as I am concerned, this is not civics education — it gives the appearance of creating a cult of personality," said Oklahoma Republican state Sen. Steve Russell. "This is something you'd expect to see in North Korea or in Saddam Hussein's Iraq."

Arizona state schools superintendent Tom Horne, a Republican, said lesson plans for teachers created by Obama's Education Department "call for a worshipful rather than critical approach."

The White House plans to release the speech online Monday so parents can read it. The president will deliver the speech at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va.

"I think it's really unfortunate that politics has been brought into this," White House deputy policy director Heather Higginbottom said in an interview with The Associated Press.

"It's simply a plea to students to really take their learning seriously. Find out what they're good at. Set goals. And take the school year seriously."

She noted that President George H.W. Bush made a similar address to schools in 1991. Like Obama, Bush drew criticism, with Democrats accusing the Republican president of making the event into a campaign commercial.

Critics are particularly upset about lesson plans the administration created to accompany the speech. The lesson plans, available online, originally recommended having students "write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president."

The White House revised the plans Wednesday to say students could "write letters to themselves about how they can achieve their short-term and long-term education goals."

"That was inartfully worded, and we corrected it," Higginbottom said.

In the Dallas suburb of Plano, Texas, the 54,000-student school district is not showing the 15- to 20-minute address but will make the video available later.

PTA council president Cara Mendelsohn said Obama is "cutting out the parent" by speaking to kids during school hours.

"Why can't a parent be watching this with their kid in the evening?" Mendelsohn said. "Because that's what makes a powerful statement, when a parent is sitting there saying, 'This is what I dream for you. This is what I want you to achieve.'"

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, said in an interview with the AP that he's "certainly not going to advise anybody not to send their kids to school that day."

"Hearing the president speak is always a memorable moment," he said.

But he also said he understood where the criticism was coming from.

"Nobody seems to know what he's going to be talking about," Perry said. "Why didn't he spend more time talking to the local districts and superintendents, at least give them a heads-up about it?"

Several other Texas districts have decided not to show the speech, although the district in Houston is leaving the decision up to individual school principals. In suburban Houston, the Cypress-Fairbanks district planned to show the address and has had its social studies teachers assemble a curriculum and activities for students.

In Wisconsin, the Green Bay school district decided not to show the speech live and to let teachers decide individually whether to show it later.

Florida GOP chairman Jim Greer said in a statement he was "absolutely appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama's socialist ideology." Despite his rhetoric, two of the larger Florida districts, Miami-Dade and Hillsborough, plan to have classes watch the speech. Students whose parents object will not have to watch.

The Minnesota Association of School Administrators is recommending against disrupting the first day of school to show the speech, but Minnesota's biggest teachers' union is urging schools to show it.

Quincy, Ill., schools decided Thursday not to show the speech. Superintendent Lonny Lemon said phone calls "hit like a load of bricks" on Wednesday.

One Idaho school superintendent, Murray Dalgleish of Council, urged people not to rush to judgment.

"Is the president dictating to these kids? I don't think so," Dalgleish said. "He's trying to get out the same message we're trying to get out, which is, `You are in charge of your education.'"

As you can see, its not just a lolSouth phenomenon.

I'm from Texas, Rick Perry is a fucking moron, but he at least said that parents should not remove their kids from school. But he is insane if he thinks Obama has the time for visit every school district to give them a heads up.

[Serif]

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

As much as I would love to not be associated to you, I get more much out of it seeing how much you Libs QQ over everything.

[Alleya]

Someone needs to inform people that withholding information and ideas is a big part of indoctrination.

[kuronosan]

This whole thing is just completely overblown. I know when I get home from class today that my stepmother and my father are going to be talking about what an evil devil Barack Obama is.

This is just fucking stupid. It makes me want to get onto a podium and really say "What the fuck is wrong with you, America?".

[Headspace]

it's the cult of personality.

the funny thing about it is Obama thought his was unstoppable.


that's why he told harry ried "I have a gift"

[Olo401]

As much as I would love to not be associated to you, I get more much out of it seeing how much you Libs QQ over everything.

Well the how does it feel to see fellow reich-wingers and brainwashed people QQing over a goddamn school lesson?

[kuronosan]

it's the cult of personality.

the funny thing about it is Obama thought his was unstoppable.


that's why he told harry ried "I have a gift"

I was asking people who have at least an idea of what the fuck they're talking about. Not you.

[Olo401]

it's the cult of personality.

Yeah ok, and Reagan doesn't have a cult of personality now, nor did he when he spoke to students 20 years ago about the myths of the Laffer Curve.

This reaction doesn't come about because of a cult of personality. It comes about because of a greedy gang of sore fucking loser Republicans, their corporate & media scum buddies, and the millions they have brainwashed into believing their bullshit. Oh and there's probably a bit of pure racism thrown in too.

[Dimmauk]

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!

From the U.S. Department of Education Web site, where Secretary Arne Duncan wrote that the speech was about "the importance of education."

"The president will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning," Duncan wrote. "He will also call for a shared responsibility and commitment on the part of students, parents and educators to ensure that every child in every school receives the best education possible so they can compete in the global economy for good jobs and live rewarding and productive lives as American citizens."

We asked the Republican Party of Florida for evidence that Obama intended to discuss health care, banks, automobile companies or taxes with the nation's schoolchildren. They couldn't point us to anything.

A spokesman said the party was particularly concerned about the study questions the department had provided. "The goal of these materials is to tell students why they should support President Obama in his overall agenda," said Katie Gordon.

"If the former administration had done something like this, the media would be handling this a lot differently," she added.

We reviewed the study materials but didn't see any mention of controversial issues, let alone any attempt to indoctrinate students in socialism. The pre-K through 6th grade materials said the main ideas of the speech would be "citizenship, personal responsibility, civic duty." The materials for high schoolers mention "personal responsibility, goals, persistence."

In ruling on Greer's statement, we wondered whether we should give him latitude for legitimate commentary on Obama's speech. But he crossed a line when he said that Obama intended to discuss "plans for government-run health care, banks, and automobile companies" and other policy matters not germane to education. That is factually incorrect, and the party could not offer any support for the statement. For raising the specter of socialist ideology and indoctrination, the party takes its claim to an additional, absurd level. We rate the Republican Party of Florida's statement Pants on Fire!

Update, Sept. 3: Since we published this item, the Department of Education has modified a line in its classroom materials about the president's speech. A bullet point for activities after the speech used to say, "Write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president. These would be collected and redistributed at an appropriate later date by the teacher to make students accountable to their goals." Now it states, "Write letters to themselves about how they can achieve their short–term and long–term education goals. These would be collected and redistributed at an appropriate later date by the teacher to make students accountable to their goals."

That change, however, does not alter our ruling. Based on the press release that the Republican Party of Florida used as a basis for this claim, there remains no evidence that Obama intends to discuss the controversial policy issues of health care, banking, the automotive industry, taxes or the national debt during his address to students

[zoobernut]

As much as I would love to not be associated to you, I get more much out of it seeing how much you Libs QQ over everything.

It is one vicious circle. The conservatives are QQing about nothing and the Libs are QQing over their incessant QQing.

Stop QQing so much all you conservatives. Lots of presidents have addressed students at school and it was never a problem before.

[Zosi]

I bet that 99.999% of these parents who think that Obama is going to indoctrinate their children to be mindless Socialist robo-voters have no problem with shoving their kids in front of the TV for 6 hours a night with no supervision. Hell, maybe they even sit down with them and force them to watch Glenn Beck and Fox News, as "family bonding time".

They aren't being good, careful parents, they're being paranoid lunatics intent on politicizing their OWN children's lives so that the evil communist President can't do it first. Think about it. What are most of these parents going to say if their kid asks "Mommy, why don't you want to hear Mr. Obama talk?"

[Olo401]

On a related note...

Could Texas' Gingrich-Based High School History Curriculum Go National? | TPMMuckraker

Approved textbooks, the standards say, must teach the Texan student to "identify significant conservative advocacy organizations and individuals, such as Newt Gingrich, Phyllis Schlafly, and the Moral Majority." No analogous liberal figures or groups are required, prompting protests from some legislators and committee members. The standards on Nixon: "describe Richard M. Nixon's role in the normalization of relations with China and the policy of detente." (That's it - no Watergate, no Vietnam, nothing about his role in 1950s McCarthyism when he was VP - Olo)
On Reagan: "describe Ronald Reagan's role in restoring national confidence, such as Reaganomics and Peace with Strength." (Nothing about Iran-Contra, his failed trickle-down economic policies or his administration's deadly ignorance of the AIDS epidemic - Olo)
...
Comments in the margin of the draft explain the proposed changes. And a persistent, tendentious conservative voice comes through throughout. Next to the section listing key names and groups from the civil rights movement and 60s activism, including Martin Luther King, Betty Friedan, and the American Indian Movement, it's noted that a committee member demanded parity ... for late 20th century conservative groups: "MV[Multiple Views]: One person: inclusion of 7 names and organizations disproportionate compared to only 3 in conservative section."
...
Here's what makes this a national story: what happens in Texas doesn't stay in Texas, says Diane Ravitch, professor of education at NYU.
That's because Texas is one of the two states with the largest student enrollments, along with California. "The publishers vie to get their books adopted for them, and the changes that are inserted to please Texas and California are then part of the textbooks made available to every other state," says Ravitch, who wrote a book about the politics of textbooks.

Indoctrination indeed. How about revisionist history worthy of the Soviets. And Gingrich plans to run for President?!

[archibaldcrane]

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

You were suspended for saying it wasn't the 2nd to last?

While penultimate sounds way fucking cooler than ultimate...they don't mean the same thing.

This has always bothered/confused me.

[Egon]

To bad Bush didn't do this, been funny to necropost that thread.

[Leif]

I mean, I don't really care, but there are some clear problems with this idea to speak to all these students...

1) White House-released lesson plans ask questions like "How can you help the president" instead of "How can you help your country?"
2) Why should millions of students stop learning in order to listen to Obama talk about why it's important to learn, then do more activities about why it's important to learn? It makes so sense. These children should be spending their days learning instead of being told by the 2948th teacher/administrator/parent/parole officer to "work hard in school".

I mean, neither is a catastrophe, but this speech, with a goal to inspire America's children, doesn't really make sense. The lesson plans for the event combined with health care reform debate will likely make this speech highly political in nature, and I don't support wasting even more school time because a president wants to say something.

[Headspace]

2) Why should millions of students stop learning to listen to Obama talk

You're making a huge assumption.