Under normal circumstances the President of the United States addressing school children would not be a problem.
Albuquerque parents will be able to opt out if their children’s teacher wants to tune into President Barack Obama’s back-to-school address next week, APS Superintendent Winston Brooks said.
“This is a politically fired issue,” Brooks told the school board Wednesday during its regular meeting. APS offices received four phone calls and “a handful” of e-mails from parents concerned about the address, and officials checked to see how other urban districts were responding to the issue, Brooks said.
However, in the current environment, it is not surprising that some folks are feeling somewhat wary of the President’s address to our nation’s school children. The current focus on increasing the size and scope of government beyond it’s already fantastically bloated and overreaching levels has made many people uneasy. Tactics used by the White House to track opposition to these efforts have done nothing but make people more suspicious:
The “flag” service was introduced Aug. 4, with a White House blog post saying: “There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finance to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.”
There have been numerous occasions in world history when what appeared at the time to be an innocent action, turned out in hindsight to be part of a larger plan. I am not saying that President Obama is hatching a big devious plan. I am just saying that as a nation, it is in our best interest to question the motivation behind any and all actions which expand government reach and influence. This is true regardless of which party is in control.
Now, if we take tomorrow’s Presidential address to the nation’s children as being exactly what it is stated as being, there is still a problem. States have their own standards. Why is the federal government “pushing” a lesson plan for the first day of school. Why does the lesson plan for children k-6 ask?
Why is it important that we listen to the president and other elected officials, like the mayor, senators, members of congress, or the governor? Why is what they say important?
Sorry, but I’ve taught at the those age levels, and this does smell a little like indoctrination. I can tell you first hand that a lot of what I’ve heard elected officials say is not important. And, there are lots of times when they SHOULD NOT be listened to under any circumstance. Again, many of you may think everything that our current political leaders are saying is just great. But remember, it wasn’t that long ago when you felt otherwise.
This is again one of those non-partisan slippery slopes.