Conroe ISD Censoring the President

In an email obtained by MoCo Report, it is clear that some CISD schools are giving parents the option to "opt out" their child from watching President Obama's upcoming speech to children on persisting and succeeding in school. In a letter, to school districts, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan encouarged school leaders to play the speech, which will be broadcast live via the White House website on September 8th. In the letter, Secretary Duncan says, "The president will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning."

CISD has not yet returned our inquiry and we are in the progress of reaching out to other school districts to understand what their plans are.

However, Bush Elementary in The Woodlands, is going forward with the "Opt Out" program:

> Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2009 17:00:14 -0700
> From: jmills@conroeisd.net
> To:
> Subject: President's Address
>
> Bush Parents,
> You should have received a letter today about the President's address to the students in America.
> Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has requested that all students in the nation watch as the President delivers a national address on the importance of education. CISD students will watch the address which will be delivered Tuesday, September 8, 2009. It will be broadcast live on the White House website www.whitehouse.gov at 12:00 noon eastern standard time and 11:00 a.m. CST.
>
> If you request that your child not participate in watching this message, please return the note to your child's teacher or write a note indicating your choice. Your child will be allowed to participate in another activity, such as reading in the library. If you do wish for your child to participate in watching the President’s message, you do not need to return the note.
>
> Thank you,
> Judy Mills
> Principal

We respect the rights of school districts to decide whether or not a Presidential Address fits into their planned curriculum and to act accordingly. However, to allow an "opt out" program sends the message to the public as well as young children at a formative age that something is potentially wrong with what the President will say. That inference is absolutely unfounded as the Department of Education has made it clear what the intentions of the Address are and they have even provided suggested lesson material to possibly accompany the speech. Review of the material reveals the same thing, that this effort is obviously benign in nature. This type of address is not unprecedented, as former President George H.W. Bush gave a similar school speech in 1989. When I was in school, we watched Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush at in-class televisions at various important times in history.

We have asked CISD if they have implemented similar "opt out" options for past Presidential Addresses. It's important to note that a Republican political figure, then First Lady Laura Bush visited this very elementary school in 2008 with her daughter to read to students and no similar opt-out option was offerred. I would contend that Barack Obama talking about the importance of perserverance in school is just as harmless as Laura Bush reading a children's book that she wrote.

Regardless of policy differences we may have, I think we can agree that children should learn to have respect for the office of the President of the United States.

See: Houston Chronicle 9/2/2009 , Politico.com 9/2/2009