not know the purpose of education, or, is willing to take a gamble on the
integrity of its educational mission in order to gain the approval of
tuition-paying constituents.
If my daughter were a student at a school which chose not to listen to
President Obama's live message, I would seriously reconsider sending her
there.
L. Mueller
Ridgefield, CT
-----Original Message-----
From: A forum for independent school educators
[mailto:ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of Bassett, Patrick
Sent: Friday, September 04, 2009 4:58 PM
To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Controversy over the President's Speech to Students
Many schools are struggling with the decision about whether to broadcast
President Obama's address to school children next week and how to
communicate that decision to parents.
Below the signature line of this email. is a message that one of our member
schools in Florida sent to families.
Cheers.
PFB
Patrick F. Bassett, President
N A T I O N A L A S S O C I A T I O N O F I N D E P E N D E N T S C H O
O L S 1620 L St., NW, Washington, DC 20036 202.973.9710 (Office)
202.746.5444 (Cell)
202-247-9667 (Fax)
bassett@nais.org<mailto:bassett@nais.org>
www.nais.org<http://www.nais.org>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
September 4, 2009
Dear Academy Families:
A small number of our families this week inquired about whether we intend to
show our students President Obama's upcoming speech to our nation's school
children. Some families have requested that their children be removed from
such a presentation; others have requested that we show the speech. We do
not intend to show a live broadcast of the speech. Our reason is that we
don't think it's really intended for students like ours, as it is designed
to be a message about staying in school, about taking responsibility to do
your homework and encouraging all students to accept the value system of
school and the idea that being a good student will lead to improvement in
your life. Almost all of our students have internalized this message long
ago. Still, I feel a need to comment about the idea of viewing a
presidential speech and requests for children to opt out of viewing a
speech.
We very much want to engage our students about the world around them and
about taking part in our democratic system. We feel that they ought to
learn about our national issues and hear perspectives on those issues
regardless of which party's philosophy they might endorse. As an
administration, we see a big problem in our country today - that, as a
nation, we are not very good right now at engaging in civil discussion and
disagreement about the policies and political philosophies that are being
"debated" in the public square. We very much want our school to be a place
where our students learn to listen to all sides of a debate and engage in
questioning, answering, and exploring, but always in a polite and civil
tone. We do not want our students to become liberals. We do not want our
students to become conservatives. We want them to learn how to listen
respectfully, how to question respectfully, and how to come to their own
opinions and votes while respecting those who may come to different
conclusions. We want them to learn how to be citizens. In order to do that,
they have to be exposed to different points of view. We would like them to
study those points of view.
If we were to show the President's speech, we would hope that those families
who disagree with the President's comments would engage their children in
discussion about what the President says, and that they will in turn provide
(and teach) their own countervailing views. When you do so, please also
reinforce rules of respect and polite civil discourse. ("We disagree with
the President because . . ." )
We want our students to learn that patriots can disagree about policy
choices in a democracy while still loving their country and wanting the best
for all of her people. Opting out of hearing a speech by the President or a
member of the clergy from a different religion or any opinionated speaker
does not serve the goal of learning about others and, eventually, yourself.
We believe that our students' education is well-served by exploration and
engagement about issues, not by refusing to even hear opposing views.
As a school, we are absolutely fine with our students disagreeing with
whomever is President and voicing that disagreement, even publicly, as long
as every student shows respect to every speaker and every event that they
attend. We want all of our students to know that they have the right to
disagree with the President or their Congressman or the Governor, and that
they have many appropriate avenues in which to voice that disagreement,
including their vote.
Our democracy needs its young people. But before they turn 18 they ought to
learn how to be better citizens and better participants than the models they
see in their daily swim through our culture's waters. The Academy at the
Lakes educational experience will help them learn how to participate with
respect for others, respect for ideas, and respect for our country, the
greatest nation on Earth.
Sincerely,
Mark Heller
Head of School
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