LA MESA – Trustees of the La Mesa-Spring Valley School District met in a special session on Labor Day and voted to prohibit their schools from showing President Barack Obama's speech Tuesday to district students.
The address, which the president delivered at Wakefield High School in Washington, was televised nationally at 9 a.m. Pacific time to schools across the country.
District Superintendent Brian Marshall on Friday had sent home letters saying that teachers would show President Obama's speech and parents could opt out if they didn't want their children to watch it.
But La Mesa-Spring Valley trustees met in a special session Monday and voted 3-2 to prohibit district teachers from showing the speech Tuesday to the district's 12,500 students on its 21 campuses.
Instead, the speech was recorded and will be shown to students at some later time when teachers can create “an educational experience” around the showing, Board President Penny Halgren said.
Halgren and trustees Rick Winet and Bob Duff supported the motion, which Halgren crafted. Emma Turner and William Baber voted against it.
Halgren said she had received several e-mails from parents who were opposed to the speech being shown in schools.
“There was a lot of emotion in those e-mails,” she said. “The concern was they didn't know what he was going to say, there was some implication he was going to try to get the kids to do something and make himself the leader and usurp some power or wisdom from the parents.... There was just plain fear. There was no information about what he was going to say.”
Later, after she read a draft of the speech, Halgren said her own concerns shifted toward whether a 20-minute speech was appropriate to be shown to all elementary and middle school students, including special education and non-English-speaking students.
She said she'd like to see teachers design lesson plans that would use all or part of the speech to make it “a meaningful educational experience for the students.”
In his speech, the president challenged the nation's students to take pride and ownership in their education and to stick with it.
“Every single one of you has something that you're good at. Every single one of you has something to offer,” Obama said. “And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is.”
Obama was not the first president to give a back-to-school address aimed at millions of students in every grade. However, his speech sparked some protests from conservative organizations who believed Obama was trying to promote a political agenda.
That concern was caused in part by an accompanying lesson plan that encouraged students to compose essays to “help the president,” which the White House later revised. Critics accused the president of overstepping his authority.
Parent Anne Isaaks, who has two children attending Murdoch Elementary School, said she felt the board's decision was partisan and disrespectful to the president.
“I am disgusted,” Isaaks said. “This is a partisan hijacking of the board.”
Marshall, the superintendent, said as of noon today, he had received 61 e-mails from parents – most who opposed the board's decision.
“By and large they are very dismayed that the board made that decision,” said Marshall, who is writing a response to each parent. “There have been maybe two or three that were supportive.”
Marshall said he expects teachers to review the president's address and work with principals to decide how to present the material in their classrooms.
“Being that the address is inspirational and highlights the need for working hard and being responsible for your education, I would expect that many would show it in their classrooms,” he said.
The address, which the president delivered at Wakefield High School in Washington, was televised nationally at 9 a.m. Pacific time to schools across the country.
District Superintendent Brian Marshall on Friday had sent home letters saying that teachers would show President Obama's speech and parents could opt out if they didn't want their children to watch it.
But La Mesa-Spring Valley trustees met in a special session Monday and voted 3-2 to prohibit district teachers from showing the speech Tuesday to the district's 12,500 students on its 21 campuses.
Instead, the speech was recorded and will be shown to students at some later time when teachers can create “an educational experience” around the showing, Board President Penny Halgren said.
Halgren and trustees Rick Winet and Bob Duff supported the motion, which Halgren crafted. Emma Turner and William Baber voted against it.
Halgren said she had received several e-mails from parents who were opposed to the speech being shown in schools.
“There was a lot of emotion in those e-mails,” she said. “The concern was they didn't know what he was going to say, there was some implication he was going to try to get the kids to do something and make himself the leader and usurp some power or wisdom from the parents.... There was just plain fear. There was no information about what he was going to say.”
Later, after she read a draft of the speech, Halgren said her own concerns shifted toward whether a 20-minute speech was appropriate to be shown to all elementary and middle school students, including special education and non-English-speaking students.
She said she'd like to see teachers design lesson plans that would use all or part of the speech to make it “a meaningful educational experience for the students.”
In his speech, the president challenged the nation's students to take pride and ownership in their education and to stick with it.
“Every single one of you has something that you're good at. Every single one of you has something to offer,” Obama said. “And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is.”
Obama was not the first president to give a back-to-school address aimed at millions of students in every grade. However, his speech sparked some protests from conservative organizations who believed Obama was trying to promote a political agenda.
That concern was caused in part by an accompanying lesson plan that encouraged students to compose essays to “help the president,” which the White House later revised. Critics accused the president of overstepping his authority.
Parent Anne Isaaks, who has two children attending Murdoch Elementary School, said she felt the board's decision was partisan and disrespectful to the president.
“I am disgusted,” Isaaks said. “This is a partisan hijacking of the board.”
Marshall, the superintendent, said as of noon today, he had received 61 e-mails from parents – most who opposed the board's decision.
“By and large they are very dismayed that the board made that decision,” said Marshall, who is writing a response to each parent. “There have been maybe two or three that were supportive.”
Marshall said he expects teachers to review the president's address and work with principals to decide how to present the material in their classrooms.
“Being that the address is inspirational and highlights the need for working hard and being responsible for your education, I would expect that many would show it in their classrooms,” he said.
