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Superintendents defend Obama speech decision |
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Wednesday, 09 September 2009 |
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 Third-grade teacher Marlene Stedke, right, talks about the solar system with her class at Cridersville Elementary School on the first day of school. By KAREN CAMPBELL Assistant Managing Editor
School districts across the county, state and country differed in how they handled showing President Barack Obama’s speech to students.
In Wapakoneta, Superintendent Keith Horner decided for several reasons not to show the speech, which aired live during the students’ first day of school Tuesday.
Waynesfield-Goshen Local Schools administrators plans to meet today to discuss whether to show a taped copy of the approximately 20-minute speech.
“As you can see from watching the news, this is one issue where outside forces are putting school districts across the county in a difficult position,” Horner said. “I believe that districts across the country have really been put in a no-win situation. No matter what decision they make on the issue, it’s certainly not an easy one.”
He said when he first heard about the planned speech Thursday, when he started getting calls from people complaining, he knew a decision needed to be made and he made it on his own, taking the pressure off teachers, for several reasons.
“I recognize there are strong feelings on both sides,” Horner said. “It was a short period of time to make a thoughtful decision. If I was faced with it again, I may make another decision.”
He said his reasons not to show it included getting the first day of school off to a good, uninterrupted start.
“On the first day of school we need to worry about getting kids on and off the bus in the right spot,” Horner said. “It’s a hectic day.”Not only that but in 20 years of education, including time spent as a social studies teacher, Horner said he couldn’t remember showing any presidents’ speeches except as they related to national events such as 9/11 and the first Gulf War.
Horner said it is different when a president comes into an individual classroom to address students and if Obama were to come to Wapakoneta to speak to students it would be an honor to have him.
“Those are two very different things,” Horner said. “It is what it is at this point.
“For whatever the reason, it has become divisive,” he said. “Many feel strongly about showing it or not showing it. I wanted to keep that decision outside of school walls. If we brought it in, it could be divisive within school walls at a time when we need to focus on getting the school year started.”
Schools in the area opted to show it across the board, not show it, have teachers make the decision, or require parents’ permission.Horner said since it is so controversial and considering the many media sources available, he believed that parents could take an active role and watch the address with their child if they wished.
“I promise you, no matter what the school decided, someone in the community is upset,” Horner said. “I deliberated all these reasons keeping the community and district that I work for in mind.”
Waynesfield-Goshen Superintendent Joanne Kerekes said Tuesday afternoon that she has compared the text version of the speech with the actual speech and found little deviation.
“We didn’t show it live and plan to meet to decide if it’s something we want to show,” Kerekes said. “If we decide to show it, we would give something to parents to decide if they want their children to see it or not.”
To allow time for all that, if they decide to show the speech, it wouldn’t take place until at least next week, she said.
One possible less interruptive time frame to do that would be 20 minutes set aside for “Tiger Pride” to get information out at the middle and high schools.
“There’s nothing in there a child shouldn’t hear,” Kerekes said after reviewing the speech.
She said the district has received a few calls from parents opposed to their children seeing the speech.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 11 September 2009 )
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