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Obama’s back-to-school message

It is particularly telling that President Obama’s back-to-school speech scheduled for today is receiving concerns from many school districts. In my area, districts including Central Bucks, Souderton, and North Penn have decided not to show it live.

The North Penn School District has this statement on their Web site: “We have received numerous calls asking whether or not students will watch the address during class and, if so, can their child be exempted from the webcast. Prior parent permission is critical because of the national debate that is occurring and because we have heard from so many parents who do not want their child to have access to the speech. Consequently, we will not be broadcasting the address on Tuesday, but it will be available at a later date as an educational resource, but only after proper notification to parents.”

Souderton is taking the same route.

Previously, all presidents, including Reagan, Clinton, and Bush, have addressed high school students at the beginning of the school year. According to The Associated Press, “some conservative critics say Obama is trying to promote a political agenda and overstepping his bounds, taking the federal government too far into public school business.”

Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said: “I think both political parties agree that the dropout rate is something that threatens our long-term economic success.”

You decide which is right.

September 8, 2009 at 10:48 am

--Beth Hegedus

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