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Haas: Classrooms no place for Obama's speech

On Tuesday, President Obama will speak directly to schoolchildren across the United States via cable TV's C-SPAN and the White House Web site. Schools are being encouraged to show the noon broadcast to students.

While the president addressing students regarding education sounds innocuous, it brings a number of concerns. Among those concerns are the way the U.S. Department of Education is promoting the speech, and the possible agenda that accompanies it.

The DOE Web site states "the president will speak directly to the nation's children and youth about persisting and succeeding in school ... will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning." It then advises that the DOE "offers educators a menu of classroom activities ... to help engage students in the address and stimulate classroom discussions about the importance of education."

A president who has orchestrated taking over major financial institutions and two automobile manufacturers, and who wants to do the same with one-sixth of our economy via so-called health care reform, probably thinks nothing about intruding into the running of local school systems. Certainly these are lofty goals he has achieved, and he has worked hard in achieving them, but at what cost?

It's not enough that he wants to talk to the children, but the DOE has prepared materials for teachers to use that are detailed to the point of telling the exact ways to guide, record and display the classroom discussions.

The expectation of the DOE, and the president, is that schools will interrupt normal classes for students to watch the speech. The material prepared for teachers includes activities for before, during and after the speech.

But why should a math teacher be delving into a civics event? Why should a biology teacher be guiding discussions and creating "concept webs" - whatever those are - regarding what the president may say in his speech? Why is it expected that a Spanish teacher will conduct a "listening with purpose" exercise based on the ideas of "personal responsibility, goals and persistence?"

This is a speech of unknown content being broadcast to a captive audience. It smacks of political indoctrination that is purposefully usurping the authority of parents and guardians. It is not some speech b

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