{"id":6993,"date":"2009-09-08T12:47:33","date_gmt":"2009-09-08T17:47:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/?p=6993"},"modified":"2009-09-08T12:47:33","modified_gmt":"2009-09-08T17:47:33","slug":"obamas-speech-on-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/2009\/09\/obamas-speech-on-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Obama’s Speech on Education"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"440px-Official_portrait_of_Barack_Obama\"<\/a>At 11 a.m. central time, President Obama delivered a speech addressed to school children across the country.\u00a0The hullabaloo<\/a> that has preceded this event has amazed me; last week, Florida Republican party chairman Jim Greer said <\/a>he was \u201cabsolutely appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama\u2019s socialist ideology.\u201d\u00a0A Facebook poll that asked whether President Obama should \u201cbe allowed to do a nationwide address to school children without parental consent\u201d was running at 50.2% saying \u201cno,\u201d 46.1% saying \u201cyes,\u201d and 3.7% saying \u201cI don\u2019t care,\u201d as of just before 11 a.m. this morning.\u00a0 Another online poll<\/a>, on Newsvine, showed that 81.3% of the respondents indicating they\u2019d let their children hear the speech, 16.9% saying they wouldn\u2019t, and 1.8% indicating that the idea of a speech was fine, but that there wasn\u2019t enough time in the school day for such a thing.\u00a0 This isn\u2019t, of course, the first time that a sitting president has addressed school children.\u00a0 In 1991, George H.W. Bush gave a speech <\/a>at a junior high school, \u201curg[ing] students to study hard, avoid drugs and turn in troublemakers.\u201d\u00a0Democrats criticized the speech as \u201cpaid political advertising.”<\/p>\n

As I read the text of President Obama\u2019s speech<\/a>, I find it hard to discern \u201csocialist ideology\u201d or even \u201cpaid political advertising.\u201d\u00a0 (Let us remember that pretty much everyone to whom his remarks are addressed is unable to vote!)\u00a0 His remarks seem more \u201cRepublican\u201d than not.\u00a0 The themes of personal responsibility and hard work pervade the speech.\u00a0 He says, \u201cBut at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world \u2013 and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities\u201d?\u00a0He exhorts students to avoid making excuses about their role in their education.\u00a0 \u201c[T]he circumstances of your life \u2013 what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you\u2019ve got going on at home \u2013 that\u2019s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. . . . That\u2019s no excuse for not trying.\u201d\u00a0And he reminds students that success is hard work and that they should learn from their failures.\u00a0 \u201c[Y]ou can\u2019t let your failures define you \u2013 you have to let them teach you.\u201d<\/p>\n

How could any parent find fault in such advice?\u00a0 Is it simply because the messenger is from a different political party or is it something else entirely?\u00a0 Barack Obama is the president of the United States.\u00a0 A demanding job, to be sure, but also a job that is heavy with symbolism.\u00a0 There shouldn\u2019t be anything inherently political in the simple fact that the county\u2019s figurehead wishes to press upon the country\u2019s future \u2013 its school children \u2013 that they ought to do their best in school and work hard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At 11 a.m. central time, President Obama delivered a speech addressed to school children across the country.\u00a0The hullabaloo that has preceded this event has amazed me; last week, Florida Republican party chairman Jim Greer said he was \u201cabsolutely appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama\u2019s socialist ideology.\u201d\u00a0A Facebook poll that asked 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