[StBernard] Obama's upcoming speech to schoolchildren has some parents worried

[Westley Annis]

Obama's upcoming speech to schoolchildren has some parents worried
by Kia Hall Hayes, The Times-Picayune 
Thursday September 03, 2009, 9:02 PM
President Barack Obama is planning to address the nation's schoolchildren
Tuesday, with a message that the White House says will challenge students to
work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their
learning.

But some parents in the New Orleans area and elsewhere across the country
worried that their children will be subjected instead to a lesson in
partisan politics.

The U.S. Department of Education has invited classrooms across the country
to watch Obama's address on Tuesday afternoon and offered a variety of
classroom activities to "stimulate classroom discussions about the
importance of education."

"We encourage educators to use this moment to help students get focused and
inspired to begin the new academic year, " officials said on the
department's Web site.

But parents across the country and in several parishes throughout the New
Orleans area have expressed concerns that Obama may use the speech to try to
indoctrinate students politically, and local school systems are dealing with
the backlash in the final days before the event.

One initial lesson asked students to write letters to themselves about "what
they could do to help the president." After receiving complaints, White
House officials changed that item to instead have students write about how
they plan to achieve their short and long-term goals.

School officials throughout the New Orleans area said they have received
calls from parents concerned about what Obama will say and how school
districts will handle the event. Some said they do not want their children
to participate in the lesson.

St. Tammany public schools spokeswoman Meredith Mendez said parents have
expressed concern about the content of the speech. In response, the district
has posted information about the speech on the school system Web site, along
with a link to the U.S. Department of Education.

"We feel that President Obama's message is a good message to kids, " Mendez
said, "It's something we welcome. From what we've been told he's going to
talk to them about completing their homework, going to school every day,
working hard."

But Madisonville resident Pat Brister, a Causeway commissioner with
grandchildren in St. Tammany schools, said some parents are concerned that
Obama's speech may be about more than schoolwork.

"From what I hear and what it sounded like it's going to be a political
speech more than an educational speech, " said Brister, a former chairwoman
of the Republican Party in Louisiana. "If that's what's going to happen,
which is what I'm hearing, then it really just is inappropriate."

Obama is hardly the first president to speak directly to schoolchildren. In
October 2001, President George W. Bush urged children to donate a dollar to
America's Fund for Afghan Children. And in 1991, President George H.W. Bush
was criticized by Democrats for conducting a teleconference with students on
the topic of math and science.

Mendez said St. Tammany parents have called her office, as well as the
office of Superintendent Gayle Sloan and individual schools. Sloan has sent
letters home to parents informing them that students whose parents do not
want them to participate will receive an alternate assignment.

"Whatever your decision, we hope that you will join in sending a united
message to students that education is an important priority and that all of
us want to see our youth make the most of their school years, " Sloan said
in the letter.

Not all districts are hearing concerns from parents. New Orleans public
school officials plan to air the president's speech, and have received no
negative reaction.

In the sprawling Archdiocese of New Orleans school system, however, there
have been concerns raised by some parents, spokeswoman Sarah Comiskey said.
Archdiocesan officials have not decided if they will air the speech.

In St. Charles Parish, school officials have received calls on both sides of
the issue, and officials at St. John the Baptist schools have said they are
encouraging parents to use the event as a teachable moment with their
children, and intend to have the majority of classrooms participate.

St. Bernard Parish public schools Assistant Superintendent Bev Lawrason said
she knew of only one call from a parent who was concerned about the speech,
which teachers are free to incorporate into appropriate lessons.

"If a student or parent finds the subject matter offensive, the teacher will
work with the student to meet the class objective in some other way, "
Lawrason said.

Jefferson Parish schools also are giving parents the choice to opt out of
the Tuesday event. Spokeswoman Beth Branley said on Thursday that the
central office had received a couple of calls from parents asking how the
system planned to handle the address.


"It hasn't really been overwhelming, " she said.