JISHOU, HUNAN — I shamelessly ripped this from the “pages” of Daily Kos. It’s a letter, similar to many, from a superintendent of schools to parents.
I am reprinting the letter here. You can visit The Daily Kos to read another writer’s reactions.
Dear Parent(s)/Guardians:
As many of you may know, President Obama is scheduled to deliver a speech to students and teachers on Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at 12:00 PM EDT. According to the White House, President Obama wants to address our nation's students to challenge them to work hard, set goals and do everything they can to succeed.
While the goals of the speech appear to be appropriate, a great deal of controversy has arisen regarding the event. The Hempfield Area School District has received numerous calls from parents who do not want their child(ren) to view the speech in school. To that end, the district was hoping to obtain more definitive information regarding the content of the entire speech, however no such information is currently available.
(this was bold) THEREFORE THE DISTRICT WILL NOT PARTICIPATE IN THE VIEWING OF PRESIDENT OBAMA'S SPEECH ON TUESDAY.
At the elementary level, the district is leaving the decision to view this speech up to you, the parent. The speech is readily available at www.whitehouse.gov along with resources that you may download in conjunction with the speech to guide your child as he/she views it. For those of you who want your child to view this speech, you may view it together in the privacy of your home when your child gets home from school.
At the secondary level, we will download the President's speech, review it administratively and based on its content, make a determination as to the level of classroom relevance. If the speech delivers a sound educational message as stated above, the district may provide an opportunity for secondary students to (in bold) VOLUNTARILY view the speech. If the speech is made available to students at school, parents will receive prior notification.
We appreciate the support and encouragement you provide your child(ren) and realize the importance of educational discussions that occur in the home. These discussions strengthen the partnership between the school and home and reinforce what the Hempfield Area School District provides our students each day. If there are any additional questions pertaining to this matter, contact the central administrative office at (724) 850-2227 or (724) 850-2232.
Sincerely,
Terry J. Foriska, Ed. D.
Superintendent of Schools
Hempfield (Pa.) Area School District.
The sections in boldface are the ones that make this is a head slapper. I wish I could say Mr Foriska — he is a he, I checked — was an isolated case, but I’ve seen this kind of language in several other letters I’ve found online.
First of all, let us recall who is making the speech. Not a former porn star, drug addict or gangbanger, nor a foul-mouthed actor, singer or stand-up comedian.
Then, let’s check Mr Foriska’s all-too-careful wording.
“While the goals of the speech appear to be appropriate” — Appear? Obama will talk about the value of staying in school and getting an education. How can this appear to be appropriate? Isn’t it just “appropriate?”
“The district was hoping to obtain more definitive information regarding the content of the entire speech …” — because, you know, the president may say something really objectionable like the f-word, or break into a rap about ho’s or something. Is Mr Foriska suggesting here we can’t trust the president to remember his audience, schoolchildren? Besides, the White House has already said what the topic of the 15-minute talk is.
“In the privacy of your home” — A presidential speech is now like a XXX movie? We wouldn’t want the neighbors finding out we watch Obama videos with our kids, now would we?
We will “review it administratively and based on its content, make a determination as to the level of classroom relevance” — Let me see, what was the topic again? Oh, right, kids should stay in school and get a good education. Nope. No classroom relevance there at all. Moving on.
“If the speech delivers a sound educational message as stated above, the district may provide an opportunity for secondary students to (in bold) VOLUNTARILY view the speech.” — Obama, who has a law degree from Harvard and who used to teach law, nevertheless doesn’t have a teaching certificate. Therefore, we will decide whether his message is educationally sound. Then, we will suggest to our high school students that they might want to listen to it, because we have determined it is educationally sound. God forbid we should force students to hear educationally sound messages.
Other superintendents and principals have clever excuses like “the students will be at lunch when the speech is broadcast, so logistically we cannot arrange the school schedule to accommodate their watching it live.” WTF? I went to a public high school, and taught at a private high school for 23 years. Our schedules were jimmied on short notice for all kinds of reasons, from the serious to the frivolous.
Other school officials use the “fit the curriculum” gambit. Obama’s speech might not “match up” with the school’s curriculum, so the schools cannot take a half hour of time from their busy curriculum-driven days to view it. Pep rally, anyone?
Schools should not feel obligated to carve out time in the school day to have kids watch Obama speak directly to the kids live. The kids can watch him at some other time with no diminishment of his message. But schools should not go out of their way — as many are — to prevent kids from watching Obama, just because a few parents believe in some crackpot conspiracy theories.
Welcome to mob rule, folks. Those with the loudest voices, no matter how few, win the day.
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