School Board, District Staff Members, Community Members, Parents and Media,
On Tuesday, September 8th, President Obama will be speaking to the nation's students; this will be the first day of school for Minnesota K-12 students. Many schools across the nation have been in session for one or more weeks. This is the first time an American president has spoken directly to the nation's school children about persisting and succeeding in school. The President will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning. He will also call for a shared responsibility and commitment on the part of students, parents and educators to ensure that every child in every school receives the best education possible so they can compete in the global economy for good jobs and live rewarding and productive lives as American citizens. The President believes that education is a critical part of a democracy. Educated people are more active civically and better informed on issues affecting their lives, their families and their futures.
The talk will be available live on the White House website at http://www.whitehouse.gov/ and is expected to last about 15 minutes. It will come out at 11:00 central time. It will be directed to the level of MS and HS students, but should also be appropriate viewing for younger students. The talk is not intended to have any policy implications.
The first day of school is challenging for teachers, students and administrators. To interrupt the 1st day of school for this web talk will be difficult. In fact, 11:00 is the beginning of most lunch cycles, but the broadcast can always be replayed. Therefore, some classes will be able to successfully watch this live.
There is some push back by some that this speech will be an indoctrination speech on liberal values. Parents may be contacting our local schools and demanding that the web broadcast not be seen by their children or they will keep their children out of school. Expect the hype on this to build over the long weekend.
It's too late to change 1st day schedules to accommodate this broadcast for all classes. After all, schedules have been set and secondary students will not be engaged in a regular schedule until Wednesday. We recognize that this is recorded and available (it will probably remain on the white house website). Concerned parents should know that they can have their children opt out of hearing the broadcast and there will be no negative consequences for them.
