Just when I thought that my local school district couldn't get any more controlled by the right wing nutjobs, they've taken it upon themselves to warn me - by sending home a letter with my child, posting a notice on their website, and calling me via an automated phone system - previously only used for extreme safety emergency measures.
What's the problem?
Our President, duly elected eight months ago in a fair and democratic election, is speaking to our children.
Oh. The Shock Of It All!
More about my district, and its constituents, below the jump....
Now, previously this tripartite system of parental warnings has been used in extreme emergencies: hostage situations (I'm 8 miles away from Columbine HS, enough said), H1N1 cases, tornadoes, etc.
But today, this is what I heard on my cell's voice mail:
Dear Parents:
The President of the United States has invited students across the country to hear him speak about the importance of education on Tuesday, September 8, at 10:00 a.m., via webcast or television broadcast. This speech may or may not be shown in your child’s classroom due to previously planned instruction or his/her schedule.
We recognize that parents have different perspectives concerning this speech, therefore your child may be opted out of hearing the speech without consequence. If you do not want your elementary or middle school child to participate in hearing the speech, it is important that you contact the main office at your child’s school on Friday, September 4, and no later than before school on Tuesday, September 8. If you do not want your high school child to hear the speech, please notify in advance the teacher your child has at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday. Please inform your child of your decision as well. The speech can be accessed at whitehouse.gov following the live webcast.
This school district is very white, very middle-class, and (until recently) very Republican.
Obviously, some in our neighborhoods are really having issues with their children being exposed to the values of hard work, educational success, and personal responsibility.
Highlands Ranch parent Shanneen Barron, in an e-mail to The Denver Post, wondered why Obama's speech is OK for the classroom when the Bible is not.
"I believe in the Bible and I believe it has educational value," she wrote, "but teachers aren't allowed to teach on that. So why this? We won't be sending our kids to school on Tuesday."
Here are some selections from the 800+ comments in today's Denver Post:
From a parent who is both a fan of the outdoors and of the ever-popular Hitler comparison:
My Kids will have a nice long weekend; I think I will take them camping and shooting guns. The will not participate in this political brain washing. Another leader with a funny little mustache was also very active with mixing politics and education what was that guys name..
A comparison to Hitler, Mao, and Saddam Hussein all in one:
Hussein has sunk to a new low with this one.
It's creepy the way they sent out literature beforehand. Parents should be very wary of this. I think Dear Leader envisions his own version of the Hitler Youth, sans gas chambers but complete with the brain washing.
And, finally, I leave you with poster Bill Heck's musings, in which he invents a completely new punctuation:
President Obama???s upcoming address to the nation???s public school students ??? September 8, 2009 ??? is a dangerous political move. Obama???s administration has done all they can to remain in ???campaigning mode??? while trying to transition into ???governing mode???. Now they extend their campaigning mode into the class room where public school students are expected to hear yet another talking head tell them how important their education is to success in life.
I personally hope that Obama???s address to public school students doesn???t create confusion. I personally hope that students leave the experience with a feeling that the whole community ??? including yet another talking head from Washington ??? is behind their success and that with teachers leading the way to their success they will have a great academic experience this year ??? in spite of yet another talking head getting in the way of their learning.