President Obama's Education Speech

President Obama's back-to-school speech this week caused far less passionate rebellion in the education world than his first one. Perhaps the public realized that much unlike President Reagan's 1988 speech celebrating American Education Week, President Obama wanted to send a strong message concerning the importance of education and not a partisan, political one. The baffle with a proposed lesson plan (not a mandated one) to engage students with the President also marked his 2009 speech. No speech or activity is unobjectionable to all, yet the worry from parents and educators in 2009 seemed misplaced. Learning aside teachers and parents about their country's government is a hands-on, practical activity. Ignoring history as it occurs is paradoxical to schools' desired lesson plans.

Last year's storm and this year's small shower of criticism concerning speech themes were also baffling. President Obama's 2009 speech focused on "the responsibility each [student] of you has for your education." The 2010 speech addressed hard work and that "nothing is going to have as great an impact on your success in life as your education." These are sensible messages, ones that as a teacher, I have heard during paid student in-services. They are the messages on assignment notebooks, teachers' posters and bookmarks. Somehow when the President delivers them, their perception negatives.

Political party loyalty aside, the President encouraging students to advance themselves is positive, and the small backlash this year shows that the American trend of denigrating education may be changing. This may be the result of the President keeping his promise not to promote personal agendas, as seen in history. President Reagan veered off topic with junior high students in 1988: "These days, whenever I see foreign leaders, they tell me about their plans for reducing taxes, and other economic reforms that they are using, copying what we have done here in our country."  Years later, President George W. Bush congratulated 'C' students and reassured them that, "You, too, can be president of the United States." Apathy and self-serving fixes weigh on our schools. Mediocrity cannot be part of a sustainable education system.

America should be pleased to see such a change, a value in education shown by President Obama's annual back-to-school speeches. While parents noted their children would hear the President speak in school, their involvement should be everyday, not just once a year. The excursion from preschool to high school is difficult, but without support, students cannot gain desperately needed knowledge to continue the rest of that ride. Students with no concept of history and its implications; proper language, spoken or written; research and interpretation skills; or everyday math skills become lumbering adults who lead our society. Average is not the goal most parents have for their children. It should not be what we have for our country's education system, either.

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