On Tuesday, September 8th, most of America’s children begin another school year. President Obama has prepared a special lesson for them on the first day of school. Broadcasting live from the White House via the internet, the president will speak directly to classrooms across the nation.
The federal Department of Education has put together a lesson plan to accompany the speech.The lesson plans are available for viewing at the Department of Education’s website. Some of the contents have education professionals and parents concerned (see Fox News story). One exercise in the lesson plan for elementary schools involves students writing a letter to themselves about what they can do to help the president. The letters would be returned to students at a later date “to make students accountable to their goals.” What goals? The president’s goals? Since content of the president’s speech has not yet been made public, it’s hard to say what the Education Department has in mind there.
Before the live broadcast, the lesson plan for Jr. High and High School students calls for students to hear excerpts from Obama’s past speeches on education (political speeches) and then asked how they think Obama will inspire or challenge them.
A letter to school principals says the president will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning. A laudable message and no apparent cause for concern, but the lesson plans prepared by the Department of Education suggest there may be more than meets the eye.
A press release from Liberty Counsel stated that federal law expressly prohibits the Secretary of Education or any Administration officer from exercising "any direction, supervision, or control over the curriculum, program of instruction, administration, or personnel of any educational institution, school, or school system" (20 U.S.C. � 3403).
Mat Staver, the Founder of Liberty Counsel, charged Obama with subverting parental rights by pushing his "political agenda" on children at the very moment that the American people are rejecting "his expansive vision for government" and his unpopular designs for health-care reform.
Likely, the president's speech itself will be mostly if not entirely non-controversial. How the activities that suround the speech are conducted in each individual classroom could be a different matter, though. The lesson plans provided by the Department of Education could serve as a springboard for unmonitored teachers with an ideological bent to engage in some political mischief. The lesson plans seem designed with that intent.
The fight against political indoctrination in schools is nothing new. For example, just last year, some public schools played students a video called “I pledge,” wherein a number of celebrities pledge to take certain actions and to assist and support Barack Obama. It’s no wonder some parents and educators are concerned about how the president will use this unprecedented platform of a live broadcast to every classroom. To date, the contents of his presentation have not been made public.
Update: Since information about the president's speech to school began circulating, the Department of Eduation has been taking a lot of heat from concerned parents and they've responded by scrubbing some of the controversial points in the lesson plans posted on their website. For example, the line "write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president" has been changed to "write letters to themselves about how they can achieve their short-term and long-term education goals."
Take Action: As the new school year begins, this is an excellent opportunity for parents to talk to their kids about what to be on guard for in school and how to tell when teachers may be pushing their political ideology on them. Arm your children with questions. If topics come up besides education, tell your kids to ask what that has to do with education achievement.