To watch or not to watch? Schools give options for Obama speech
When President Barack Obama speaks directly to schoolchildren at 11 a.m. next Tuesday, some children will choose to skip it - and that's OK with several Northwest suburban schools.
The president's address, broadcast on the White House Web site, www.whitehouse.gov/live, and on C-SPAN, is expected to last 15-20 minutes. The White House has said he will talk about the importance of children taking responsibility for their education, and setting goals.
The Webcast has prompted criticism from conservatives like the National Tea Party Coalition, which is urging schools to allow children to opt out, and urging parents to approach their school board and ask why parents were not consulted before agreeing to show it.
Several school districts surveyed Thursday said they would give students an opt-out. In the state's largest elementary district, Schaumburg Township Elementary District 54, administrators told its 27 individual schools to decide for themselves whether to show the Webcast.
District spokeswoman Terri McHugh said they've gotten a relatively small number of calls Wednesday and Thursday from parents requesting their children be excused.
"When someone tells us, 'We don't want our child watching that,' we don't ask why ... We just respect that and allow the parent to be the ultimate decider for their child," McHugh said.
She also said many principals have e-mail newsletters they send to parents on Fridays, and those will tell parents directly about the schools' plans.
This is not the first time a president has spoken to schoolchildren in the Chicago area.
President Ronald Reagan was warmly welcomed in Geneva in 1982, when he had a question-and-answer session with an eighth-grade civics class at St. Peter Catholic School. He was promoting tuition tax credits for families that sent children to private schools.
Students asked him about tax credits, but also if he planned to change a freeze on hiring ex-traffic controllers he fired during a strike the year before, gun control, inflation and his economic policy.
As another school day came to a close Thursday at Palatine Township Elementary District 15, Superintendent Dan Lukich said only a few parents objected to the Webcast.
Each teacher in District 15 will decide whether the presidential address fits into their plans for that day, he said.
"Any teacher who chooses to utilize it as part of his or her daily lesson can do so," Lukich said.
Lukich added that while parents are free to keep their children at home for fear Obama's message will be political in nature, barring teachers from showing it would conflict with freedom of speech.
"(Parents) really can't say to a teacher, 'You can't show it,'" Lukich said. "And it's not our place to say they can't either."
The Barrington schools reported Wednesday getting about three dozen inquiries from parents concerned that Obama's address will contain political overtones.
Teachers and principals in Arlington Heights Elementary District 25 will decide whether to show it, and any students who wish to have an alternative activity will have that option, said Superintendent Sarah Jerome. She said her office had received only two calls.
In Mount Prospect, District 57 does not have the technology to show the Webcast to all the classrooms, said Superintendent Elaine Aumiller.
Instead the district is giving parents the Web address in its Friday newsletter and encouraging parents to watch with their children at home.
"I know the community has been talking about it," Aumiller said.