Update 9/7/09: Superintendent Vicki Thomas held a press conference this afternoon to clarify her previous announcement. We have the full story here and video from the press conference will be available later this evening.
The Fayetteville School District announced Friday afternoon that it will not show President Barack Obama’s live, back-to-school message this Tuesday in its classrooms.
The District will instead provide a link to the address on its website “for families to watch at home if they choose” and will also provide access to the speech on Channel 14.
The message, which the White House says will stress the importance of personal responsibility and challenge students to take their education seriously is being met with criticism from those who say the speech is nothing more than a plan to impose a political agenda on the nation’s children.
The District did not mention the recent controversy over the address as a deciding factor for not showing the speech.
From the official message:
The decision to provide the recorded message and make it available on the website is for logistics and convenience purposes. Many students will be at lunch, P.E., music, engaged in pre-planned instruction, labs or other activities during the original broadcast.”
According to the White House website, the address will be broadcast live at 11am CST from Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va., and will air on both WhiteHouse.gov and C-SPAN.
[ Photo from barackobamadotcom via Flickr and Creative Commons 2.0. ]
