RTC Outraged by Obama's Speech to Children

Students in New Canaan's public elementary schools won't be seeing President Obama's speech to the nation's children Tuesday. Administrators and faculty will record the speech, which will encourge students to study hard and challenge them to take responsibility for their educations, and decide once they've reviewed it whether and how to present the address to various grade levels. Social studies teachers at Saxe Middle School will make the call about whether to use the president's speech in their classrooms, which will air at noon eastern time, in real time or on a delayed basis. High school teachers may also choose to show it to their students live.

Alternative activities will be provided for elementary and middle school students whose parents do not want their children to view the 15-20 minute speech. High school students whose parents want them to opt out will be directed to separate study areas.

The Republican Town Committee sent out a message to its e-mail list around 4:30 p.m. Thursday expressing outrage about the speech and lesson plans the White House and the U.S. Department of Education are distributing to accompany it. The RTC's e-mail called the speech and the lesson plans "political gesturing," saying that it would, "require the children to write letters to themselves about how they and their parents could help Obama and his administration."

The message was referencing a line in an earlier version of the suggested post-speech curriculum for students in pre-K through sixth grade which asked students to write down what they can do to "help" President Obama. The revised lesson plan asks students to reflect on the President's ideas about "citizenship, personal responsibility, and civic duty," and instructs students to write letters to themselves outlining their educational goals.

The RTC urged parents to contact the Board of Education, and a handful showed up at the board's special meeting Thursday evening expecting the members would be discussing the district's plans for the speech. In fact the meeting was scheduled only to discuss board governance and due to freedom of information rules the agenda could not be changed.

Superintendent of Schools David Abbey nonetheless talked to the four parents of children in the elementary schools who showed up to the meeting to air their concerns.

"I don't need this to be fed to my children," said John Laguzza, the father of two children in kindergarten and third grade. "This is a publicity stunt that I don't think has a place in the public schools."

Laguzza and the other parents said their concerns were heightened by the timing of the speech amidst the highly politicized climate of the ongoing national health care reform debate. They suggested that the speech be shown after school, but Abbey stood by the district's plan.

"Teachers have the responsibility of deciding what to show or what not to show," Abbey said. It will also be left to the discretion of teachers whether or not to use the government-provided lesson plans. "I don't want to censor it. I'd rather err on the side of including things in school."

And, the superintendent added, there will be 175 school days left after the speech to balance out any partisan sentiments.

According to the Washington Post, in October 1991, President George H.W. Bush made a similar nationally televised speech to students at Alice Deal Junior High School in Washington, D.C.  At the time, according to the Post, Democrats criticized it as being politically motivated.