President's address to school kids sparks controversy

A national controversy has made itself felt in McDowell as parents and schools scramble to respond to a planned Tuesday broadcast of a presidential address to school children.

The White House announced plans to broadcast the president's address to students at noon Tuesday via the White House Web site. The message will also be carried live on C-Span.

The president will deliver the speech before an audience of students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va.

"He'll urge students to take personal responsibility for their own education, to set goals, and to not only stay in school but make the most of it," according to a statement from the White House.

But that idea does not sit well with some. Charges of lesson plans that looked more like calls to political action have led to widespread criticism.

Last week, McDowell public school sent home letters advising parents of the president's planned address. They were advised to sign and return the note if they did not want their children to hear the message.

Nebo Elementary Principal Joyce Poplin told The McDowell News she believed all the county's public schools sent the same note home.

Michelle McDaniel's daughter, Courtney, is a student at West Marion. Michelle said she had not received the note, but had no problem with the president addressing American school kids.

The White House has made efforts to get the widest advance publicity for the address, enlisting the aid of sports figures that might have more cool credibility than the president to get the kids interested.

Last week, the White House released a video of NASCAR drivers urging students to "put your foot on the gas and take your future in both hands" by staying in school.

The federal Department of Education distributed several suggested lesson plans, said to maximize the educational aspect of the speech, in the days leading up to the event. Suggestions for classes below sixth grade include asking students what they can do to help in school and what they would say to students if they were president.

"Why is it important that we listen to the president and other elected officials, like the mayor, senators, members of Congress, or the governor?" read another suggested topic for discussion. "Why is what they say important? What is the president asking me to do? What new ideas and actions is the president challenging me to think about?"

For upper grades, the memo suggests discussing topics such as, "We heard President Obama mention the importance of personal responsibility. In your life, who exemplifies this kind of responsibility?" Teachers are advised to lead discussions of responsibility and the "challenges" faced by this generation of students.

These lesson plans are changed from ones that appeared last week, according to an acknowledgement from Education Secretary Arne Duncan Sunday morning on CBS's "Face the Nation." An earlier version of the lesson plan suggested having the students write the president letters detailing how they could help meet his education goals.

That led many critics to see the speech and lesson plan as politically motivated.

Duncan said the guides distributed to schools "were put out by teachers, for teachers. And there is one that wasn't worded quite correctly. It was talking about helping the president hit his goal of having the highest percent of college graduates by 2020. He's drawn a line in the sand in that.

"We just clarified that to say write a letter about your own goals and what you're going to do to achieve those goals. So again it's really about personal responsibility and being accountable, setting real goals and having the work ethic to see them through," the secretary said.

Duncan dismissed the criticism of the "socialist indoctrination" agenda behind the speech as "just silly."

Marion's Travis and Roseanne Beaty have two sons at Marion Elementary, and they don't fully agree about the idea of the president's message directed to kids. Roseanne said the address is "a waste of time" when he should be speaking to adults.

"My kids are in first and second grade," she said. "They don't understand what he has to say."

But Travis thought it was a good idea.

"I think it's alright. They've been talking to adults for years about education and it hasn't done no good," he said. "Yeah, (the boys are) gonna watch it."

But many are appalled. By Friday, districts in Texas, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Virginia and Wisconsin had decided not to air the speech at all, according to The Associated Press.

Oklahoma Republican state Sen. Steve Russell told the AP the speech and lesson plan was an attempt to create a personality cult.

"This is something you'd expect to see in North Korea or in Saddam Hussein's Iraq," he said.

Retired Glenwood Elementary Principal Haskell Davis said the propriety of the address was dependent on the tone of the message and the lesson plan.

"He is the leader of our country," he said, "and if he encourages them to study and work hard and do well, that's a good thing. If he crosses the line and becomes political then that's inappropriate."

To Davis, advocating a political position in a school lesson is not more appropriate than advocating a religious position. He was not surprised by the outcry against the speech, given the lesson plan that originally went out.

"Wanting the students to write letters on how they cold help him achieve his agenda," he said, was clearly "going beyond" the boundaries of education.

The AP has reported that former presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. Bush made similar addresses in 1988 and 1991. Davis said he did not remember those events from his days in the school system, but they would have been on C-Span only, not on the Internet.

Brenda Wood and David Hughes are with a group of nine Jehovah's Witnesses visiting McDowell from Miami this week. Their opinion was that education is vitally important, not only to furthering a student's chances of prosperity but also to avoiding the pitfalls and temptations of youth.

If the president takes a personal interest in encouraging kids to stay in school, said Wood, that's a good thing, and an example all should follow.

Messages left for school administrators seeking comment for this story were not returned before deadline Sunday.