|
It seems to me that the noon hour would be ideal for something like this because most of the kids are at lunch. Are cafeterias really not equipped for this type of thing? Isn't that where assemblies are always held? I've never been in a school where the cafeteria wasn't equipped for this. I have been in many that didn't have TVs in every classroom.
It is state law in Michigan that public schools cannot start school prior to Labor Day. Historically, the only reason that kids have summer off was to work on their farms, so it makes sense that the primary "growing season" would be different regionally. Additionally, most of our schools do not have air conditioning, so starting in August would just be ridiculous most years. We generally don't need air between September and mid-June, so schools weren't equipped with it. When schools started installing A/C, some of them then started school prior to Labor Day, which put a HUGE dent in our tourism industry. So, our previous governor proposed the law that schools cannot start until after Labor Day. It will be the first day of school for all the kids in Michigan. I see this as a pro for timing as well. They don't do anything the first day anyway.. they usually don't even get their books the first day. I imagine, as a teacher, I'd be happy that there was something to fill up the time on that first day because it only takes so long to go over a syllabus and classroom expectations.
I don't see how the President speaking directly, motivating and encouraging kids to stay in school, is all that different from the children watching Channel One every morning. As much as I disliked Bush, I never objected to news stories on Channel One about things that he said or did. I only jokingly objected when my son, in second grade, had to do an oral presentation on a President and happened to randomly be assigned W and was supposed to give the speech as though he WAS George W., like an autobiography.
One of my first thoughts was, I wonder if every child that Bush was reading to on the morning of 9/11 had permission from their parents to be in the room when the President was there. I can't even imagine. I know for sure I didn't have to get permission to see Mondale speak when he came to my high school.
This man IS the President of the United States. Agree or disagree with his policies, he is our President. I really disliked W strongly, to the point that I couldn't even look at him anymore by the end of his Presidency, but I would never object to my children hearing him speak in school. It *is* educational to learn about our government, to learn how to discuss politics in an intelligent way and to discuss our freedoms as citizens of the United States. I can't imagine wanting to squash that. We see some insane statistics about how many Americans can't name the Vice President or the Speaker of the House, etc... and we wonder why???
|
Threaded Mode
