Tri-Cities schools won't force students to watch President

The furor over whether students should be shown President Barack Obama's back-to-school speech Tuesday has reached the Tri-Cities.

Administrators in Geneva, St. Charles and Batavia public schools said teachers are allowed to show it, and it is up to teachers to decide whether they think it fits into their teaching plans.

Some people say the president will deliver a speech with political tones, something they think children and teens should not be mandated to watch. The Geneva school district received at least a dozen calls about the matter, Superintendent Kent Mutchler said. " 'Propaganda' is the word we've heard most often," he said.

In Geneva, it will be treated in accordance with established policies for controversial subjects in classrooms: Parents may excuse their children from that portion of the class, and the students will be given an alternate activity.

St. Charles and Batavia schools have similar policies and will also excuse children.

West Aurora District 129 has had inquiries but has not taken action.

Parents have asked Elgin Area School District U-46 if there was a districtwide policy, spokesman Tony Sanders said. He sent an e-mail to principals Wednesday stating, "Principals who are considering airing the speech for all students are encouraged to speak with teachers and parents."

Georgia Fee of Geneva has children in elementary, middle and high school, and had not decided as of Thursday afternoon whether she would let them watch. She acknowledges a message about attending school and making the most of educational opportunities would be positive.

"What I'm concerned about are any messages that are related to propping up President Obama," such as urging people to do more, including paying more, to support education."He is disingenuous. I don't feel he is being fully honest."

Fee said she would not have had a problem with President George W. Bush addressing the nation's schoolchildren, because she feels he kept partisan stances out of such messages. She suggested Obama make the speech at night, when parents could have their children watch it at home.

Obama is speaking at a Virginia high school in the morning, and it is being broadcast live on the C-SPAN cable network and online. The White House says the speech will focus on encouraging children to work hard on their education.

Batavia Superintendent Jack Barshinger said the speech may be moot. "We've been in school for two weeks already," he said. "This doesn't work as well for suburban schools as it does for urban schools (that start after Labor Day.)"

This is not the first time a politician has spoken to schoolchildren, whether it's a mayor or a president.

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 those, whether 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.

Barshinger noted teachers often use presidents' speeches and news conferences in lessons, especially since advances in technology have made them easily available. Podcasts of Tuesday's speech will be put up on whitehouse.gov.

"This is no different than any other presidential address," he said.