He is the President of the United States, he wants to talk to my kid, I am good with that. Heck, if G.W. wanted to talk to my kid I would be ok with that, and in my opinion he is the stupidest President in the history of the world.
I got a phone call yesterday, from Robert Rammer, the communications guy at CUSD 200. He says that we aren't showing it because we can pre-screen it and don't know if it is appropriate. If we think the message is appropriate, we will make copies available at a later date and we might show it to the kids if we feel like it. I heard the message when the kids were screaming at me. But, my politically active friend fired me up... I did something.
While I didn't get the response I wanted, I did get one. I will still be pulling my kids from school to see the speech, but this response seems more reasoned to me... granted they still aren't showing the speech.
Ms. Parrett,On behalf of the Board of Education, thank you for your comments. Please know that the Board has received your email as well as this response.The District is not denying students the opportunity to hear the President's message. We will make it available at more convenient times when students can be engaged in a discussion about his message.Although we certainly support and appreciate the President's encouragement of students to do well in school, broadcasting a 20 minute program at 11:00 to all our schools, on a live web stream, is somewhat problematic from a logistical perspective. At the high schools and middle schools, for example, many of our students are eating lunch. These students would not be in a classroom setting where a discussion could take place. From a practical perspective, delaying the lunch schedule for an extended period would be disruptive at best. Some students will be in physical education classes or settings unsuitable for viewing. Streaming this message to all venues and computers at one time would most likely disrupt our technology.Providing schools with multiple copies of the presentation allows teachers to present the message in a thoughtful and instructive fashion.While we certainly appreciate your comments, it is our intent to provide the President's message in a more measured way.The review of the content is more a factor of grade level than substance. Preparing a group of kindergarten students for the President's message is quite different than preparing a group of high school seniors. Teachers deserve to see the message before they show it and conduct instructional discussion with children.Sincerely,Robert A. Rammer, Ph.D.
Director of Communications
School District 200
I won't comment on the spelling of my name. I also will not comment on the fact that Bob's letter was addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Lang, that is another blog post for another day. It will be interesting to see if what happens.
The great thing is that, I can pull my kids from school and bring them home so that they can see the message. I might DVR it for them, but in a grand show of political dissent, I might pull them out of school too.
So for now I have a headache and am tired, I am not up to full fighting the man speed. I think I might need a nap.
My kids have a half day that day - first day of school here in Michigan - they will be home before the speech. So, we'll watch it at home. The district says teachers may show it later and "parents who are concerned" can opt out, I suppose just like they can opt out of a PG movie or sex ed or what have you.
ReplyDelete~Meg from the Knitty Gritty team.