Big Brother alert: Sorry, but Obama's planned address to nation's schoolchildren is creepy
September 1, 5:47 PMProgressive ExaminerD.K. Jamaal
http://www.examiner.com/x-19823-Progressive-Examiner~y2009m9d1-Big-Brother-alert-Sorry-but-Obamas-planned-address-to-all-the-nations-schoolchildren-is-creepy

Heil Obama? The President speaks about heath care at Central High School in
Grand Junction, Colo. Saturday, Aug. 15, 2009. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)I think it’s wonderful that President Obama is making education a priority. And his bookish, pro-intellect personality is good for children to emulate (to a point). Certainly, his academic achievements are a paradigm for kids to aspire to.

But like President Bush's, Obama’s first educational foray is an unwelcome one.

Bush, who also made education a priority, joined with Ted Kennedy to produce a truly horrendous piece of legislation in No Child Left Behind. NCLB is a well-intentioned disaster at best.

Obama’s initial educational push will be what he thinks he does best – a speech, likely read from a Teleprompter.

Obama is planning to address the all of the nation’s students on Tuesday, September 8, 2009, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

I’m sorry, but the notion of a national address to schoolchildren creeps me out.

Maybe I’m paranoid, but it sparks within me thoughts of Big Brother’s looming head on a massive television screen, indoctrinating the hapless drones spread out before him.

The companion “Menu of Classroom Activities” released to pre-kindergarten through sixth graders by the Education Department in advance of what they are billing as “President Obama’s Address to Students Across America” does nothing to assuage my paranoia.

Big Brother or President? Obama speaks in Grand Junction, Colo. (AP /Alex Brandon)Before the speech, students are instructed to read books about Barack Obama. Teachers are asked to ask students “Why do you think he wants to speak to you?” referring to the President.

During the speech, students should think about the following “What is the President asking me to do?” and “What specific job is he asking me to do?” among other things.

After the speech, the questions that students should ponder include “Are we able to do what President Obama asks up to do?”

I’m sorry, but I don’t want the President of the United States asking or telling the kids of the United States to do anything. This isn’t 1950s China.

And what -- exactly and precisely and specifically what -- is the President going to be talking about during this address? The war? Healthcare reform? Voting issues?

Nobody knows, which is also scary.

The White House needs to be completely transparent beforehand about what the President intends to tell the kids of America.

Because if it’s anything other than “obey your parents and your teachers,” the President may well be out of line.

Parents should be aware and wary of mass indoctrination coming from any President and into the hearts and minds of impressionable little ones.

We got the letter from the school today, an alternative is being given to go to another class room during his speach. Tonight at a school vollyball game the parents were livid about this many wanting a boycot of the school that day.. This is getting to be another political mess quick.

A blog?

No this was from a non blog site , but i didn't post it in news and I am sure you can see the word OPINION...We have big concerns about this type of invasion into the schools starting with pre-K kids and the books about himself thes kids are being asked to read first.

well it looks like a blog./propaganda~ sorry! why did your school only receive this? or did other schools?

Helloooooooooooo...this is nation wide in EVERY SCHOOL from pre-K to high school. Check out Yahoo home page . It is all over the web.
Obama is intruding into class rooms and taking valuable teaching time away from the kids.

funny none of our schools have seen this,I would like to see one one of these all over the web from a reputable source, just commenting, like you do on blogs/opinions like you do mine~~I went to yahoo home page i found nothing~on this subject

My Thoughts/what is wrong with A president speaking to Children on the values,structure of our country?

SSC is this what your talking about?


http://news.aol.com/article/obama-speech-to-students-draws/655701?icid=sphere_newsaol_inpage


Obama speech to students draws conservative ire
By LIBBY QUAID and LINDA STEWART BALL
,
AP
posted: 47 MINUTES AGO
comments: 27
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DALLAS -President Barack Obama's back-to-school address next week was supposed to be a feel-good story for an administration battered over its health care agenda. Now Republican critics are calling it an effort to foist a political agenda on children, creating yet another confrontation with the White House.
Obama plans to 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 watch.
Districts in states including Texas, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Virginia, 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 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. He 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.
"If someone objected, we would not force them to listen to the speech," spokeswoman Kelli Durham said.
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.
In Florida, GOP chairman Jim Greer released a statement that 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.
"We're extending the same courtesy to the president as we do with any elected official that wants to enter our schools," said Linda Cobbe, a Hillsborough schools spokeswoman. Cobbe said the district, which includes Tampa, has gotten calls from upset parents but said officials don't think the White House is trying to force politics on kids.
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.'"
—

I know I am answering a bit of my onw post

<<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.">>>

Obama goes back to school
More from The Yahoo! Newsroom: Thu Sep 3, 3:11 pm ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20090903/pl_ynews/ynews_pl888_1
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 [sic] 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.”

Well! what is wrong with the (speech) give us the bad? also this script looks false even the deliverance/ sorry what you put first is completely different to this,not all schools have recieved this did i miss this?

by false,I mean /like blog, the post shows opinions,an that is blog
this complete post from SSC// something all presidents do/speak to our Kidfs/Teens/publicv

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."
------------------

NATION WIDE GYP !!!

Let me explain one thing to you, this is not a blog, it quoted blogs CBS also has this listed and google Obama and school children speech...not hard to find many NEWS articles reporting on this ...
When I posted this I wasn't looking for a liberal fight from you I was looking for input, fuck no you come out swinging with blog shit..I told you this was on Yahoo face page , that is where I copied the last article from..

SSC let me explain this all opinion/not fact

you put this post//as a ll schools got this propaganda//we did not

you stated this was opinion/then stated that yahoo supported all

I am confused!!

#1 take the tongue smart ass face and stick it in your ass...
I left off a Y on the post ..it should have read Any Opinion...my bad
This is not blog..Gypsy it is all over the news , but since it isn't posted In The News does it really matter, you have posted blogs in non-news threads...
What I was trying to do was get someone with a reasonable level of intellegence to give an opinion on this .
If Kentucky hasn't gotten this notice which I know they have it went to all schools nationwide today, the kids there will be bringing home the notice from school as this is to happen the day they go back from Labor Day vacation.

If he keeps it to encouraging children then I see no harm, but I'll be damned if it is going to be anything but school pep talk..How can one speech to Pre-kindergarden and Seniors have an impact..I agree with a comment in your article, this should have been done in the evening with parents present to discuss this with their children.
Don't you see what is happening here people don't trust him anymore...

whoo hoo,!! I thought all opinions put here were from sources not news notable were blogs?? I have not heard or seen anything here in our schools concerning an Obama speech that is considered negative.

YES, as an encouragement(),Obama Speech()it is good, but that is not how you presented it
~ at first~as
far as intelligent,I believe I suffice~My point was,,this was an opinion/blog you posted

This is the "cult of personality" so correctly feared. Have the Dems lost their fucking minds??? No sane or more than dimwitted parent will allow their children to be indoctrinated into this cultish nonsense. Will the Obamalites urge children to "help their president" as Mao did? As Kim Il is doing now? As the madrasas are doing? As Hitler did so effectively? No damn wonder people are getting more and more disillusioned with Obama and co. Ya say there's no comparison? That's what they all say.

SSC is the video available of Obama speaking to Students in Grand Junction Colorado,I have searched an can;t find it, would like to see it~

ok my correction, I just called our schools there is a notification of Obama's speech to school children nation wide

here is an excerpt from a Texas new i didn't copy it all but you can go read its entirety


Why the fuss over Obama's speech to students?

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/090309dnmetobamaschools.3ca94f4.html


•The Dallas and Richardson districts are expected to decide today how to proceed.

Susan Dacus, a Wylie ISD spokeswoman, said, "All parents I have talked to have been very negative."

School officials there have decided not to make his speech a districtwide activity but will let teachers incorporate it into the day's lesson. Other districts, including Carrollton-Farmers Branch and Mesquite, said they will probably do the same.

Suggested lessons

Arne Duncan, Department of Education secretary, informed principals of the speech in a letter sent last week. He encouraged students to complete suggested lessons that go along with the speech.

One lesson plan for students in kindergarten through sixth grade suggests children write down what they would say to students if they were president. Another asks students to discuss, "Is President Obama inspiring you to do anything? Is he challenging you to do anything?"

McKinney ISD will make viewing the video optional. "It's a unique opportunity," said Cunningham, the district spokesman.

Allen school administrators have encouraged teachers to show the video, but officials spent some time Wednesday urging parents not to withhold their children from school that day. Allen, McKinney and other districts say those absences won't be excused.

Yet, parent Bill Hogsett said he figured half of the Frisco parents he knew would keep their children home from school Tuesday.

"It doesn't matter if it's a Republican or Democrat. We have a problem with the government intruding on our lives," said Hogsett, who has a 5-year-old son in kindergarten.

Garyld Miles, a father of twin first-graders at Eddins Elementary School in McKinney, shared similar concerns.

"It's dangerous grounds for a president to ask students to advocate his policies for reform for education," he said. "That's exactly what he's doing."

Duncan said the intent of the speech and the lesson plans has been misunderstood. The president, he said, won't be lobbying for policy changes but will be calling for a "shared responsibility" among students, parents and educators "to ensure that every child in every school receives the best education possible."

'Tool of indoctrination'

Obama's speech has ignited partisan passions among conservative groups, which accused him of injecting politics in the classroom.

Neal McCluskey, associate director of the Center for Educational Freedom at the conservative Cato Institute, said the lesson plans accompanying the speech are "troubling."

"Reasonable people can disagree" about Obama's policies, he said. "But they don't want their kids to be indoctrinated. This is potentially a tool of indoctrination."

Fred Moses, chairman of the Collin County Republican Party, said he had not heard anyone who was concerned about the speech.

"As long as the president is not talking about his agenda or policies, we all need to encourage our kids to do better," Moses said.

Barb Walters, president of the Texas Democratic Women of Collin County, contended the outrage is mostly manufactured.

"Emotions are running so high in politics," she said. "People are just shoving signs and fists into people's faces these days. Whatever happened to civil discourse?"

Larry J. Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said he doubted that Obama would risk criticism by giving a political speech.

"If this is simply a pep talk by the president of the United States to schoolkids," Sabato said, "to me that is in the category of mother and apple pie and the flag."

Staff writers Todd J. Gillman, Sam Hodges, Jessica Meyers, Matt Peterson and Valerie Wigglesworth contributed to this report.
OBAMA'S EDUCATION EFFORTS

President Barack Obama's nationally televised address to students Tuesday is part of what the White House calls a continuation of his efforts to use the bully pulpit to promote the value of education. Among other efforts:

•The Department of Education has sent classroom materials to the nation's schools to facilitate discussion of the president's message.

•The administration has enlisted top NASCAR drivers to tape public service announcements touting the importance of school.

•Since taking office, Obama has pushed hard on his goal to reduce the high school dropout rate and increase the number of students who attend and graduate from college.

•The $787 billion economic stimulus plan included more than $100 billion for education, and Obama has frequently called on teachers and parents to help students maximize their educational opportunities.

S

on
Obama's speech

MY WORDS:i was fixing to post about the original article on this sight, i went to the url here and it clearly is a conservative sight, any sight that has ann coulter and sarah palin adds has to be conservative lol,i cant stomach ann coulter. but she has learned the money game on controversy sells. so one should read the article knowing it a bit biased, when i went on aol the welcome screen it had a article on it, and i copied it, its pure politics on why ppl would not want children to have words of encouragement about there education just as president bush did. but dems criticized it as republicans are this one,(Hench politics) i find nothing wrong with it. but i have not read his speech , oh by the way i am an independent centralist on most things as i think yall can tell, and i vote that way. i think his speech is online come monday. but since i have my article on it already copied i will post it, this is just conservatives not liking anything obama just as liberals did not like anything bush when he made his speech to children. i would need to read on it but that is the first time i ever heard anything critical on " no child left behind" i think i have heard postitive things on it but im not up to speed on that, but i would not take this one sight as a source on that legislature, as it is a conservative ran sight. its all politics. anyway here is the article off aol .i want to point out this one sentence in the article, i think this sentence is a bit far out as bush did the same thing and i doubt this was said when bush did the same thing by this senator, ( Oklahoma Republican state Sen. Steve Russell. "This is something you'd expect to see in North Korea or in Saddam Hussein's Iraq.") i find that stupid,


Obama School Speech Sparks Controversy By LIBBY QUAID and LINDA STEWART BALL, AP
posted: 1 HOUR 50 MINUTES AGOcomments: (Sept. 4) -
http://news.aol.com/article/obama-speech-to-students-sparks-new/655701?icid=sphere_blogsmith_inpage_poldaily

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.'"

silly season is right.. this is my words for the article i am posting

I agree with your post Rosco

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090904/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_speech_schools



Gibbs: Furor over Obama's speech 'silly season'





speech to students draws conservative ire


By BEN FELLER, Associated Press Writer Ben Feller, Associated Press Writer – 25 mins ago

WASHINGTON – The White House on Friday dismissed as pointless the furor over President Barack Obama's plan to deliver a televised back-to-school speech to the nation's students.

"I think we've reached a little bit of the silly season when the president of the United States can't tell kids in school to study hard and stay in school," presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters. "I think both political parties agree that the dropout rate is something that threatens our long-term economic success."

Obama's planned address to students has prompted a surprising push-back from some quarters over what the White House sees as an important but innocuous topic.

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.

Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, a potential presidential contender in 2012, said Obama's speech is "uninvited" and that the president's move raises questions of content and motive.

Many school districts have decided not to show Obama's speech, to be delivered at 12 noon EDT Tuesday, partly in response to concerns from parents.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, on Friday defended Obama's plan to address students.

"The bottom line is we need the president of the United States of America to use his bully pulpit to talk to kids about the importance of education and to help inspire kids," she said on "The John Gambling Show" on radio station WOR NewsTalk Radio 710 in New York.

Gibbs said former Republican presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush delivered similar speeches to students. He said Obama's speech will not be partisan but rather a chance for children to get "a little encouragement as they start the school year."

The White House spokesman said he couldn't speak to the motivations of some school districts.

"Look, there are some school districts that won't let you read 'Huckleberry Finn,' " Gibbs said.

He said the administration understands that some districts have logistical concerns with the timing of Obama's speech.

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

___

Once again Obama has put the cart before the horse, in notifying schools of his speech he has neglected to send a copy of the now being revamped speech.Schools are responsible for the information given to students and with nothing to present he needlessly has caused mass confusion and anger. Just simply getting it right the first time and most of this would have been eliminated. You just can't throw things at kids without parents raising concerns and wanting to be informed on the contents. We have discussed with my granddaughter the speech, we will let her view it , she is honors and 4.0 and a history buff. She is smart enough to know if there is anything not geared to education she will call home immediately. No swine flu no health care period.
A speech geared to pre-K how can this benefit Seniors, he is attempting to connect with all grades with one speech. I find this rather a waste of time . At least it is only 20 minutes. So far no books have been sent to this area as were suppost to, but they were just about him, so probably not overly important. He has learned a valuable lesson , one they chose poor wording in the beginning, and two the rate of trust in him is not there.
This has managed to raise the amount of student conflict within the schools once again, things were just calming down after the election.