The CHALKBOARD
Free Lance-Star reporter Amy Umble covers Stafford County schools and other education issues
Stafford’s school system will not show President Obama’s back-to-school speech
Stafford County public schools will not show President Obama’s back-to-school address on opening day Tuesday because of "logistical issues," according to the division’s Web site. Obama is giving the speech at Wakefield High School in Arlington County. It will be aired live at noon on C-Span and via whitehouse.gov.
Some parents across the country have complained about having the speech shown in classrooms. Here’s what White House spokesman Tommy Vietor told the Associated Press about the speech: "The president will speak directly to students about the value of education and the importance of staying in school as part of an effort to dramatically cut the dropout rate. It’s not a policy speech. It’s about getting kids to stay in school."
The Free Lance-Star will publish a story this weekend about how area school divisions are handling the speech.
The Stafford school system released this statement on its Web site:
"Because of logistical issues related to the first day of school and other concerns regarding the short planning window available, members of the Stafford County School Board have elected not to have Stafford’s schools participate in the live presentation on September 8th. They have instead expressed a preference to make the President’s comments to students available via video at a later date. The plan and procedures associated with making this opportunity available for Stafford’s students will be announced next week."
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