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Some Local Schools Won't Show Obama Speech

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Sep 8, 2009 7:18 am US/Central

Some Local Schools Won't Show Obama Speech

Some Others Have Sent 'Opt Out' Forms

CHICAGO (CBS) ―

A handful of Chicago area school districts will not be showing President Barack Obama's address to students on Tuesday morning.

The Deerfield and Oswego school districts won't show the speech live. Both might use it at a later date.

Parents said students in District U-46, which includes Bartlett, were sent "opt-out" forms.

In Indian Prairie Public School District 204 in Aurora, some schools have either made the speech optional or held it for a later date.

The speech is scheduled for 11 a.m. Central Time.

The speech drew fire well before Obama delivered it. The White House said the focus would be on encouraging children to value their education.

"At the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world," Obama said. "And none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities."

But some parents believe Obama is trying to impart his political beliefs on schoolchildren, and say they don't want their children watching it.

"A large government-control movement is taking over more and more of our lives," said Eva Sorock, a former member of the Wilmette School Board, earlier this week. "They want to get those little kids, to teach them about all the issues that their administration thinks are important."

WIND Radio talk show host Michael Medved said: "Using government schools to force students to bond with the maximum leader might seem appropriate for Cuba or North Korea, but it's clearly out of place in a constitutional republic."

Sorock suggested that parents could keep their children home with "swine flu symptoms."

But others called not showing the speech "disrespectful," and even argue against the "opt out" option.

"Many parents in our school district found this extremely disrespectful and were outraged that a form like this was sent home from U46 regardless of parents political views," one U-46 parent, Megan Ziech, said in an e-mail.

Some students are also taking a stand on the debate. McHenry West High School is not showing the speech, and one student, Nicholas Langlois, is planning a demonstration outside the school. He says he has obtained permission from the local police department, and is aware of the consequences from his school.

He accuses the school of censorship.

Obama is not the first president to address students across the country. In 1991, President George H.W. Bush issued a speech to the nation's schoolchildren, encouraging them to stay away from drugs.