We have known for many many years that the left has infiltrated our schools, especially at the university level, and have made life difficult for kids…or for that matter teachers…who have a conservative bent. But this is just creepy. It’s a letter from the Secretary of Education Arne Duncan letting our K6 and under kids know that Obama will be speaking to them on September 8th:
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.
Millions of kids will be stopping their day to sit down and listen to this speech.
Now that, in itself, is not THAT creepy, well kinda…but this is:
Things get downright disconcerting when one eyeballs the federally approved lesson plans that the Department of Education has cooked up to support the president’s speech. The preK-6 lesson plans, which were developed with federal funds, devised on taxpayer time, and made available on the Department of Education’s website, exhort teachers to extend the impact of the president’s speech by having students “write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president.” This clumsy bit of cheerleading shows no awareness that ”help[ing] the president” might be construed as an invitation to engage in advocacy rather than instruction or that it might worry those who are not Obama partisans. What’s truly remarkable, however, given recent concerns about intrusive federal government this past month, is the lesson plan’s directive that “these [letters] would be collected and redistributed at an appropriate later date by the teacher to make students accountable to their goals.”
It all sounds a touch Orwellian, no? “Redistributed” to whom? “Accountable” to whom? Accountable for which “goals” exactly—the ones that involve “helping the president”? I’m sure the intentions behind all of this were decent enough, and that this whole effort was intended as a pep talk dressed up with innocuous materials. The lesson plans were likely drawn up by a couple of low-level staffers and slapped up on the department website without a careful look. But this all points to some of the perils posed by the growing presidential inclination to serve as superintendent-in-chief, and it highlights the kind of hubris that has fueled concerns about the implications of the federal government’s growing reach.
While the liberals will tell us that the President is just trying to motivate the kids to do good but the thing is the President should not, ever, address our kids and extol them to help him achieve is Socialist goals. Imagine if Bush had tried this….just imagine the outcry that would emanate from the left.
See author page
@james manning:
You see, that’s what is amusing about you james.
You say “I’ve read it…and there’s nothing there” but what you don’t admit, or are ignorant of, is that what you read and linked to is not what was originally released.
In the midst of withering criticism, the White House and/or the DOE walked it back a bit.
It’s a shame that you’re not nearly as informed as you might like for us to believe you are.
@Aye Chihuahua
Let me address the question in 40 so we can get back to talking about aliens.
In the packet that the DOE sent out it listed activities that students can perform before, during and after the speech. It is typical classroom instructional guidelines that teachers present with classroom movies or with educational field trips. In it is a section for teachers to generate discussion:
That final one “How can you be a part of addressing the challenges” is a call for students to do something. It is asking the kids to identify the challenges as they see them then find a means to address those challenges. There is nothing there about supporting the President’s agenda. The entire curriculum is based on understanding of what the speaker is addressing then expand upon it with their own experiences and circumstances.
You will note here that they are discussing the personal academic goal of the student. There is nothing about national policy here. Again, this is a standard exercise given to high school students. Whether it is a famous speech by historical figure or current political figure, the educational objective is the same: Listen to the speech, understand the purpose of the speech then make it relevant to the student’s life… in this case it is their academic life.
This is the high school agenda. As you might guess, the K-8 agenda is more basic and doesn’t asks much of the students. But both focus on the educational goals of the student and how their education success will impact America’s future.
It wasn’t going to be a big deal to begin with because by September 10, the kids wouldn’t have remembered anything or given a damn if they gave a damn to begin with. I support the president and I don’t even bother with all of his speeches.
This is much ado about nothing but again, you guys did give me an opportunity to write about aliens so for that I am grateful.
@james manning:
Again, what you linked to and have now quoted is NOT what was originally released. That is the walked back version.
I told you that in # 51.
Do try and keep up.
Aye Chihuahua,
Sorry if I don’t get my information for Faux News or World Net Daily, but I’m following the same link that was posted here. So how am I not keeping up? I just went and read what was posted and I made a conclusion. You say they walked it back…I don’t know if that’s true or if the original person just didn’t comprehend it well. After all, these are the same people that look at a birth certificate and thinks it’s not real; these same people read a bill about end of life counseling and get Death Panels; the same people that take every word in the bible a literal; so I think I’ll trust my own reading comprehension skills and figure that that the folks that first made a big hoopla about this just aren’t very good with the written word.
@ james manning
There are some famous last words. If someone told me just 2 years ago that the government was going to take control of the auto manufacturers and the financial system, limit executive pay, borrow a trillion dollars to build roads and bridges, with some porn films, museums and the odd out house tossed in for good measure, I would have said the same thing with the same sarcasm.
I’m not laughing any more.
@james manning insists “Obama isn’t a polarizing president. “
James, you really should start a career in comedy. That’s hilarious!
Sorry, but you cannot absolve Obama’s role in polarizing the current political debate.
After all, remember when Republican leaders went to the White House to discuss stimulus legislation and he dismissed their concerns by telling them “I won.”
He’s also blamed President Bush at every opportunity. Not exactly the kind of leadership you would expect from someone seeking to unite the country.
Then, there’s the health care debate where he’s accused opponents of lying while his surrogates have called us “unAmerican” “evilmongers” racist….
It’s clear that either Obama is purposely acting in a way to divide the country or he is too stupid and tone deaf to realize how his heavy handed tactics would be interpreted.
Either way, he’s shown that he’s not a statesman, or a true national leader. He’s only the President of the left, not the U.S.
Why would any of us on the center and the right not recoil from such a man?
@james manning:
I do love it so much when you are snarky and condescending in your posts james.
Truly I do.
It gives everyone here a taste of your character and a snapshot of your inner composition.
Perhaps, if I ask nicely, you’ll top it off for us by calling us all racists…again. It was so charming and special when you did that before. Will you do that for us today…pretty please?
As to the original version that was put out and the ensuing walk back, a lack of knowledge on your part does not constitute a need to educate on my part.
The original version of what the DOE put out is all over the Interwebz for anyone who is interested in finding it.
Obviously, you’re quite comfortable with your ignorance and only you can help yourself with that.
How is Obama saying “I won” any different than Bush saying “I’m the Decider”?
Here is the issue, folks. With every issue there are those who will support and oppose based on legitimate concerns and ideology. That’s normal and there is nothing wrong with that. The health care debate is a serious one and very complicated but we’ve have gotten to the point where hyperbole is the method of discourse. I haven’t seen one good topic about health care because everyone is talking death panels. We never had a good conversation on Iraq because it was narrowed to “with us or against us”. Medicare D is a mess but no one is talking about it.
We’ve created these dichotomies and pretend there is no middle ground. Or simply fail to see it because of ideology. This is nothing new but this country has some serious issue that need addressing but we’re talking about the President indoctrinating children. You have elected officials telling their constituents not to fill out their census. That’s crazy.
The current political debate about health care has been polarized for 40 years. It is going to be a fight no matter what because there are people with monetary interest in keeping the system the way it is. Is HR 3200 the best plan? Doubt it. Maybe we should look at the Mayo Clinic and take some lessons from them. But first you have to get around death panels. Afghanistan is a mess but I’ll bet the debate turns to, win or lose, surge or no surge and whatever catch phrase they come up with next.
It’s crazy which is why I find it hard to take issues like this serious.
@james manning: You always have an excuse and rarely have a reason.
You are simply unable to see that Obama has ANY RESPONSIBLITY for creating the current political climate. That is sad.
And as Aye has pointed out you are wiffling and waffling all over the place rather than answer the basic questions Aye, myself and others have posed above regarding the impropriety of Obama using a captive audience of school children to force propaganda down their throats.
It’s clear that we need a more detailed discussion on that very point in which you will not be able to evade the obvious conclusion that Obama is using the Dept. of Education and this speech to school children in ways that are both nefarious and unprecendented.
I’ve got a post on this in the works and should have it up shortly.
Aye Chihuahua,
So you’re saying that with such an important document, none of you took the time to save the original? Not even a screen shot? I’m sure there is one out there but this isn’t my issue so don’t expect me to launch into a world wide search for something I think is silly to begin with.
I followed the link. You say it’s been retracted. I don’t know that and you haven’t proven to me that it was and that they people who started this just got it wrong. Until then, I’ll go with what I read from the material that was referenced and the conclusion I came to from reading said material.
And I’m not being condescending towards any of you. I’m just talking about aliens because I think it’s more interesting and more fun.
@james manning:
Bush made that comment in the context of a personnel decision, not legislative debate.
Apples. Oranges.
@james manning:
Well, there you go demonstrating those stellar reading comprehension skills again. [Snicker]
Perhaps you can read back through my comments, heck read back through all of the comments on this thread, and point out for me, if you can, where anyone said that they did not save or take a screen shot of the original.
Do that for me please.
I can hardly wait.
As I said in #58, you’re obviously quite comfortable with your ignorance and only you can help yourself with that.
Your lack of knowledge does not constitute a need for me to educate you.
You know what. While I’m sitting writing this I just got an email stating that the co-host of my sports talk show has passed. I was hoping it was a joke but it doesn’t look like it is. So I’m done with this folks. Enjoy your weekend.
@james manning: Sorry to hear your sad news James. I have posted an update on the subject of Obama’s political indoctrination. Come on back when are ready.
I’d like to know how you address the black school teacher who rejects the Dems politicization of education.
I read the President’s speech and I find it inspiring. I plan on having my child read it and watch the video. I am a conservative, but people are making judgements and spreading lies based on other people’s lies. You blame the press, the liberals, the Democrats for doing the same thing. Its about time that the “conservative right wing” stop believing the terror mongers who are just trying to make a name for themselves. They are no better than the “liberals” that you so despise. Start thinking for yourself – read the speeches, read the laws, read the bills on the Hill, make decisions based on that instead of some lemmer’s blog that is crying the sky is falling just because he heard someone else cry that. Think, people!!!
@cbk:
What lies are being told?
What lies are being spread?
Who would those people be?
That’s what we’ve been doing from the beginning.
What was your point again?
cbk, I understand what you are saying. So let me catch you up on putting two and two together, and the latest events backtracking the offensive suggestions by the DOE.
The hubbub came from the below document, issued from the US Dept of Education as suggested student exercises for the POTUS speech.
President Obama’s Address to Students Across America September 8, 2009 –
Please note that the student suggested exercise in question is item #2 in the last section, “extension of the speech”, where it suggests students:
WTF? “help the President”? I thought this speech was all about their staying in school, and setting goals for success for themselves… not “helping the President”.
I’ve read Obama’s prepared remarks on the WH site. For the most part, I don’t find any of it offensive save his vain “Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn.” Strikes me as rather pompous and filled with self-import since school budgets precede “the won” by decades if not centuries. But then his view of himself, as he relates to others, comes as no surprise. He is a man who wants to make the world feel that only Obama and his concept of governing is the answer to our woes.
Now perhaps there is a serious disconnect between Obama’s speech, and the Dept of Education’s edict of suggested studies around that speech. But there is no doubt that the exercise to write letters to “help the President”, collected and students to be “held accountable” for that promise to “help the President” is way over the line.
And apparently, after this was brought to the attention of the WH, they have decided to revise their suggested lesson plans by changing that study exercise to read “…”write letters to themselves about how they can achieve their short-term and long-term education goals.” This is far more appropriate, and I have no problems with that alteration.
Now the question you should be asking yourself is, would that change have been made if the public had not got up in arms about the “helping your President” bit? I, personally, think Obama’s educational officials would have proceeded were not those, who saw this for what it was, becaming very vocal.
Update to my comment above about Secy Arne Duncan’s backtracking on the “help your President” student exercise.
From AP, as republished on BreitBart:
Other than that, I’d say that while his speech is not what I would call “inspiring”, as cbk believes, the suggested student exercise curriculum was necessary. Then the debate becomes whether this is a POTUS, pressuring school kids to per perform, or “inspiring” them to greater achievement.
On the latter, perhaps they should also be prepped that his is an administration that will be guaranteeing their “achievement” will only be rewarded in personal satisfaction… certainly not with evil capitalistic rewards.
MataHarley, Arne Duncan is Bill Ayres without Weather Underground ties. Both are folks that should never be in Government or positions to piss away Tax Dollars on Social Experiments that feed their vanity and benefit no one.
I gotta say, Trooper, Arne was a harder call on the obvious. We did a lot of posts on the Annenberg Challenge, and the Obama-Ayers relationships a year ago. Steve Diamond was on the forefront there, as opposed to other more prominent journalists who seized the public credit for his stellar research.
Duncan was the aftermath of the Chicago school system after the Annenberg Challenge obvious failures, despite all the money spent. The thing is, despite his close relationship with his precedessors, Arne ended up with a relatively good reputation post-Annenberg locally. He actually rejected some of the Annenberg principles in the public school system… giving him some (very little) due credit.
So while I agree he’s cut from the same cloth in “social justice” curriculum and advancing political agendas via the public education system – just as Ayers and Obama believe – he was always a more elusive target to lend proof to these beliefs. I suspect that he’ll be showing his colors (as he’s doing with the suggested student exercises post-Obama lecture) now that he has a larger forum and more scrutiny. So right now, feeding him the rope is the MO we are forced to accept.