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Tuesday, September 8, 2009

WISD students may or may not watch Obama's education address


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Editor's Note:
This may be old news to some, but just in case the letter below from WISD Superintendent Dwain York spells out how the district will be handling today's national address on education from President Obama. The letter was released last week. Looks like students and/or their parents can opt in or out. York says that due to lunch scheduling conflicts the president's address will be taped and shown on Wednesday.


In a letter received last week, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan stated the following, “President Obama announced that on September 8 - the first day of school for many children across America - he will deliver a national address directly to students on the importance of education. 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.”


I have received visits, calls, and emails about the speech with most of the questions pertaining to how the school district will address this situation.


We all have our own political viewpoints and attitudes and as parents we all want to be able to discuss our viewpoints with our children. As your superintendent, I do not feel it is the school district’s responsibility or place to emphasize one group’s philosophy and/or values over another. I do, however, feel it is the district’s responsibility to offer all our students the opportunity to listen or not listen to the President with parental/guardian approval.


I have received questions from parents on this issue, with as many parents opposed to allowing their child to participate as there were for requesting their child view the President’s address. Therefore, after meeting with my administrative team we will address the concern as follows:


WISD campuses will be allowed to participate in the President’s address; however, as with other controversial issues, I want to make sure we are protecting our parents’ rights by allowing them to exclude their children, if they choose. This letter provides you the opportunity to exclude your child by checking the appropriate box below, signing and returning this letter to the campus Principal office by Wednesday morning, September 9, 2009.


Logistically, the timing of the speech does provide a real problem for us to show the students a live feed on Tuesday, primarily because it was intended to be shown in a classroom under the supervision of our teachers, and the President is speaking at 12:00 p.m. (noon) our time. Because many of our students will be at lunch, we will record the speech and show it in our classrooms on Wednesday, September 9th. Again, for those parents who wish to exclude their children from the speech, the forms must be returned to your campus principal by Wednesday morning, September 9, 2009 in order to allow us time to make appropriate arrangements for students.


The President’s unprecedented approach has created unique issues for schools across the nation. I would like to hear your opinion as to how we have handled this. Thank you for your support, and I look forward to hearing from you about this matter.


Dwain York, WISD Superintendent

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mr. York is NOT correct. Obama's approach is not unprecedented. President George H.W. Bush did the exact same thing and I have seen the YouTube clip of him doing it--asking kids to write in and make suggestions that help the President. Ronald Reagan did similar things. President Kennedy once asked American youth to join the President's Council on Physical Fitness--and we did. Mr. York, you are not talking to a high school pep rally--there are better informed people within your district than you.

But all this is beside the point. Why have we come to the point in America when the President cannot speak to its citizens, regardless of age? Since when should parents have to sign a permission slip to watch the President of the United States speak about anything? The answer is in the election of a black, liberal who is detested for being just those things.

This hate...we have seen it all before. The same people hated Roosevelt for bringing about Social Security. They hated Truman for integrating the Armed Services. They hated Kennedy--and killed him--because they thought he fumbled the Bay of Pigs and had weak knees over Cuba and failed to end the Cuban missile crisis through military force. They hated LBJ forever because he signed the Civil Rights Act and brought about Medicare. They hated Ceasar Chavez because he tried to protect and empower exploited farm workers. They hated women who fought for the right to vote. They hated EVERYONE who opposed them on Vietnam. They hated Martin Luther King--and killed him because he spoke the truth on race. They hate gay people because they want to live together under equal protection of the law. They hate fellow Christians who preach the gospel of helping poor people but scorn them as "socialists" when they actually try to help poor people.

If I am a student at Wimberley and I am denied the right to see the President's speech and discuss it, I would call in sick and watch it at home live. I would put a video of it on Facebook. I would email copies of the YouTube verson to all my friends. In essence, I would give you the finger, Mr. York, and let you know that you will not--NOT NOW OR EVER--deny me my rights as a citizen to hear the President of the United States.

freedom rings said...

Superintendent York,

I applaud your decision to have the WISD students (their parents)opt out of hearing President Obama speak live and directly to students regarding the virtues of working hard in the classroom, and receiving an excellent education.

I know the difficulty it must have been for you to think independently on this issue. I sort of picture 2 telephones on your desk, both for incoming calls only. The blue phone is for taking calls from parents who want to advise you on what to do in a crisis situation such as this. And the red phone is a hotline from all the school board members, on speakerphone, giving you some balanced ideas on dealing with political issues.


I feel comfortable knowing that my $4,880 per year school taxes allow for our students to refrain from hearing and seeing a live speech from outside the confines of Wimberley, Texas. Yes, it is possible that an "outside influence" might be destructive to the minds of our kids.

Mr. Dwain York and school board- please continue to exercise the sound judgement that we so desperately need here in our progressive town. Go Texans.

Anonymous said...

Superintendent York, Thanks for being the voice of reason regarding Barack Obama’s message to our students. Some parents love Obama and others do not trust him so leaving it up to the parents was the correct thing to do.

Anonymous #1 – I believe you need to check your own hate level. It seems that anyone who does not agree with your leftist views is a hater.

By the way, your lack of historical knowledge really shows. The guy, Lee Harvey Oswald, that killed John F. Kennedy was a Marxist, Communist, not someone that was mad “because they thought he fumbled the Bay of Pigs and had weak knees over Cuba and failed to end the Cuban missile crisis through military force”.

Maybe your own hate has clouded your message.

Anonymous said...

Anonomous #2, I do not hate, especially those who oppose my views. I enjoy reasoned and vigorous public debate when people keep an open mind and heart, something that seems no longer to be occurring in America. However, taking one's children out of school because the president is speaking is simple stupidity. It is ignorance based on fear which begins with a daily pledge of allegience to Fox News, Glen Beck and Rush Limbaugh. With respect to the death of JFK, I agree that he was killed by Oswald who was an alleged Marxist. Whether Oswald acted alone or in concert with others may never be known. But it is a fact that Kennedy was the target of extreme right wing hate in November, 1963. A prominent hateful ad was published in the Dallas Morning News on November 22, 1963.