<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=452><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Published September 5, 2009
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Parents angry at Obama's planned speech to school students
Some claim the president is trying to indoctrinate their kids with socialist ideas
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</TD></TR><TR class=caption><TD>PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Mr Obama's speech will stress the importance of education and hard work in school, both to the individual and to the nation, says the White House</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>US PRESIDENT Barack Obama's plan to deliver a speech to public school students on Tuesday has sparked a revolt among conservative parents, who have accused him of trying to indoctrinate their children with socialist ideas and are asking school officials to excuse the children from listening.
The uproar over the speech, in which Mr Obama intends to urge students to work hard and stay in school, has been particularly acute in Texas, where several major school districts, under pressure from parents, have laid plans to let children opt out of lending the president an ear.
Some parents said they were concerned because the speech had not been screened for political content. Nor, they said, had it been reviewed by the state Board of Education and local school boards, which, under state law, must approve the curriculum.
'The thing that concerned me most about it was it seemed like a direct channel from the president of the United States into the classroom, to my child,' said Brett Curtiss, an engineer from Pearland, Texas, who said he would keep his three children home. 'I don't want our schools turned over to some socialist movement.'
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</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#fffff1><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=124 align=center><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>'I'm not letting my next-door neighbour talk to my kid alone; I'm sure as hell not letting Barack Obama talk to him alone.'
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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The White House has said the speech will stress the importance of education and hard work in school, both to the individual and to the nation. The message is not partisan, nor compulsory, officials said.
'This isn't a policy speech,' Sandra Abrevaya, a spokeswoman for the Department of Education, said. 'It's designed to encourage kids to stay in school. The choice on whether to show the speech to students is entirely in the hands of each school. This is absolutely voluntary.'
Mr Obama's speech was announced weeks ago, but the furore among conservatives reached a feverish pitch on Wednesday morning as right-wing websites and talk-show hosts began inveighing against it.
Mark Steyn, a Canadian author and political commentator, speaking on Rush Limbaugh's radio show on Wednesday, accused Mr Obama of trying to create a cult of personality, comparing him with late Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and Kim Jong Il, the North Korean leader.
The Republican Party chairman in Florida, Jim Greer, said he 'was appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama's socialist ideology'.
And Chris Stigall, a Kansas City talk-show host, said: 'I'm not letting my next-door neighbour talk to my kid alone; I'm sure as hell not letting Barack Obama talk to him alone.'
Previous presidents have visited public schools to speak directly to students, although few of those events have been broadcast live.
Mr Obama's address at a high school in Virginia will be streamed live on the White House website.
In 1991, then president George Bush, a Republican, made a similar nationally broadcast speech from a Washington high school, urging students to study hard, avoid drugs and to ignore peers 'who think it's not cool to be smart'.
Democrats in Congress accused him of using taxpayer money - US$27,000 to produce the broadcast - for 'paid political advertising'. -- NYT
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</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Parents angry at Obama's planned speech to school students
Some claim the president is trying to indoctrinate their kids with socialist ideas
<TABLE class=storyLinks border=0 cellSpacing=4 cellPadding=1 width=136 align=right><TBODY><TR class=font10><TD width=20 align=right>
</TD><TD>Email this article</TD></TR><TR class=font10><TD width=20 align=right>
</TD><TD>Print article </TD></TR><TR class=font10><TD width=20 align=right>
</TD><TD>Feedback</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>(Houston)<TABLE class=picBoxL cellSpacing=2 width=100 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR class=caption><TD>PRESIDENT'S MESSAGEMr Obama's speech will stress the importance of education and hard work in school, both to the individual and to the nation, says the White House</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>US PRESIDENT Barack Obama's plan to deliver a speech to public school students on Tuesday has sparked a revolt among conservative parents, who have accused him of trying to indoctrinate their children with socialist ideas and are asking school officials to excuse the children from listening.
The uproar over the speech, in which Mr Obama intends to urge students to work hard and stay in school, has been particularly acute in Texas, where several major school districts, under pressure from parents, have laid plans to let children opt out of lending the president an ear.
Some parents said they were concerned because the speech had not been screened for political content. Nor, they said, had it been reviewed by the state Board of Education and local school boards, which, under state law, must approve the curriculum.
'The thing that concerned me most about it was it seemed like a direct channel from the president of the United States into the classroom, to my child,' said Brett Curtiss, an engineer from Pearland, Texas, who said he would keep his three children home. 'I don't want our schools turned over to some socialist movement.'
<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#ffffff>[FONT=Geneva, Helvetica, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]<!-- REPLACE EVERYTHING IN CAPITALS WITH YOUR OWN VALUES --><TABLE class=quoteBox border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=144 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=bottom>
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- Chris Stigall,
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top>Kansas City talk show host
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'This isn't a policy speech,' Sandra Abrevaya, a spokeswoman for the Department of Education, said. 'It's designed to encourage kids to stay in school. The choice on whether to show the speech to students is entirely in the hands of each school. This is absolutely voluntary.'
Mr Obama's speech was announced weeks ago, but the furore among conservatives reached a feverish pitch on Wednesday morning as right-wing websites and talk-show hosts began inveighing against it.
Mark Steyn, a Canadian author and political commentator, speaking on Rush Limbaugh's radio show on Wednesday, accused Mr Obama of trying to create a cult of personality, comparing him with late Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and Kim Jong Il, the North Korean leader.
The Republican Party chairman in Florida, Jim Greer, said he 'was appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama's socialist ideology'.
And Chris Stigall, a Kansas City talk-show host, said: 'I'm not letting my next-door neighbour talk to my kid alone; I'm sure as hell not letting Barack Obama talk to him alone.'
Previous presidents have visited public schools to speak directly to students, although few of those events have been broadcast live.
Mr Obama's address at a high school in Virginia will be streamed live on the White House website.
In 1991, then president George Bush, a Republican, made a similar nationally broadcast speech from a Washington high school, urging students to study hard, avoid drugs and to ignore peers 'who think it's not cool to be smart'.
Democrats in Congress accused him of using taxpayer money - US$27,000 to produce the broadcast - for 'paid political advertising'. -- NYT
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