So I heard today that LISD is not showing President Obama's speech. I had a long talk with Brian Morris from the district and basically got some runaround. Polite runaround, but still runaround.
After getting off the phone and thinking and fuming and researching a bit, I put together a letter that I sent to him and his boss. You can get their contact info here: http://www.lubbockisd.org/...
After the fold is my letter to him.
Dear Mr. Morris,
After our discussion this morning, I proceeded to do some research since my initial call was a spur of the moment action based on what I heard on the radio this morning, along with previous knowledge gathered throughout the previous weeks.
I have reviewed the optional worksheets provided by the DoE to be used after the President’s speech at: http://www.ed.gov/... and http://www.ed.gov/... and have a difficult time finding any political goals defined in any of the exercises presented in or questions asked in the worksheets. If you could point them out so I can understand the concerns of other parents, I would sincerely appreciate it. As I said earlier, these are optional, and even the DoE says that "educators may choose to use the president’s address as a teachable moment." (See http://www.ed.gov/... Question #3) Not must, but may. To me, that would eliminate any concern that this might be seen as a political event.
Another concern you mentioned was that other Presidents had perhaps visited classrooms, but hadn’t given nationwide speeches to children. I said you were incorrect, but did not have the facts on hand. I do now.
On November 14, 1988, President Ronald Reagan addressed the nation with an education speech from Jefferson Junior High School in Washington D.C. The speech was 2,294 words long and was followed by a Q&A session. This can be verified at: http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/... , which is contained in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
On October 1, 1991, President George H. W. Bush addressed the nation with an education speech from Alice Deal Junior High School in Washington D.C. The speech was 2,079 words long. This can be verified at: http://bushlibrary.tamu.edu/... which is contained in the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum.
You also indicated that you were unsure of the length of the speech, which is understandable in terms of determining the length of disruption in class lessons. Again at http://www.ed.gov/... Question #3, information is provided that states the speech is scheduled to last for 15-20 minutes.
A final concern you mentioned is that LISD does not have the necessary bandwidth to distribute the speech throughout the entire district, presumably in terms of 1 computer per classroom. As a property owner, IT professional, and parent of 2 children living in this district, this concerns me, and I’d appreciate receiving the contact information of the person to address about this. However, that is not germane to this discussion.
What does concern me is that there are alternate means available to view the President’s speech and LISD does not seem to be willing to address them. A quick review of the White House web site at http://www.whitehouse.gov/... shows that the speech will also be broadcast via C-SPAN and is also available via satellite transmission.
Are you willing to tell me that there is no way to patch in a C-SPAN feed into LISD-TV? Is the program "Passport" (According to the schedule at http://www.lisd.tv/... more important than an address of the President of the United States? Is your IT staff unable to patch in a feed from a single webcast into LISD-TV? If you’re able to record it to play later, then your IT/media staff has the capability to put a delay feed to broadcast through LISD-TV. If they’re not, then they should be fired.
I’m extremely angry about the district’s decision, and after putting the facts together, I believe I was given the runaround this morning, trying to give me some placating answers to get me off the phone.
I’d like to know why the district has decided that because some parents think that the President urging "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." (http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/My-Education-My-Future/) is not proper for their children that the district has cut off the presentation. Does the district think that the stated goals are something my children should not be pursuing? If not, then what would the district urge that my children do in regards to their education?
I see distinct partisan behavior in this decision. I want to know why it exists in the district responsible for educating my children.
Sincerely,
Jake Stonebender
[other contact info redacted]
CC: Nancy Sharp, nsharp@lubbockisd.org