Really?!

So, I was in Boston this past weekend getting married, and have been playing catch up on the Obama speech to students hoopla. Today I watched the President's speech on my JetBlue flight back to Orlando.

What was the problem? Are people, parents and school districts, so caught up in partisanship that they cannot allow students to hear from the figurehead of this nation? There was no political slant in today's speech, and had there been, then shame on Obama. But, there was none. The speech was good old... "get down to business and work hard". What's wrong with that?

Following the President's speech MSNBC interviewed a man from the San Antonio Tea Party who claimed that the lesson plans that were put out by the DOE were in violation of federal law.

Really?!

His argument was that our children should not have to write down their dreams and aspirations. Is this where we are as a society? The "Tea Party" man also had an issue in a previous interview with MSNBC where teachers get to decide about showing the speech to their students. Also, I am sick of people comparing the Obama speech to students across the country to the speeches of Chairman Mao.

Really?!

Alright, here is my take... the school district that I work for did not want students to view the speech live, this after parental complaints poured in. They also issued a district wide email to teachers declaring that you would have to see how the speech aligned to the Sunshine State Standards before you show it to students. This is crazy to me. In a speech where the President called on students to put some effort into their education - to not quit on their country by dropping out - to ask questions and find out what they are great at - we are not allowing students to view this.

It seems to me that if the President of the United States wants to speak with the students of the United States then he should be able to do so. No matter what parents, school districts, or anyone thinks. I am on the front lines in the classroom and I know that this message that the President brought to the airwaves is EXACTLY what they need to hear. Let me know your thoughts on this post or the President's speech or people's response to the speech.

My apologies for the diatribe.

PS Here is the link to the "Tea Party" interview: You Tube Tea Party Interview

More to come...

Mike Meechin

mike@innovateeducation.com