B-W School Board Debates Over Obama’s Back-to-School Speech

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The Baldwin-Whitehall School Board will make a decision on Wednesday night, Oct. 12, on whether or not all Baldwin-Whitehall students will be required to listen to future back-to-school speeches made by the nation’s president.

The item set to be voted on reads as, “RESOLVED, that students of the will not have the opportunity to ‘opt-in or opt-out’ of the President’s Annual Back-to-School Speech.”

When President Barack Obama delivered his third annual Back-to-School Speech on Sept. 28, this year, for all district students to hear. However, individual students had the ability to opt-out, at the formal request of their parents, of hearing the speech.

Indeed, some district parents chose to have their children opt-out.

On Wednesday night, Oct. 5, school board member Martin Michael Schmotzer voiced his displeasure over families deafening their children to the president’s speech.

Schmotzer said that the school district should “respect the office of the president, the office of the governor” when it comes to addressing students, adding that any official of that magnitude should be allowed to talk to students about education provided that his or her speech does not interfere with a normal day of school.

“Democrat or Republican, male or female, black or white, whatever,” Schmotzer said.

Board President George L. Pry agreed with Schmotzer.

“I’m not a big fan of our current (U.S.) president,” Pry said, “but I am a great fan of the office of the president.”

Fellow board member Kevin J. Fischer argued that Obama’s Back-to-School Speeches are merely about encouraging students to do well in school and not about hot-button political issues. Fischer would support a motion to require all students to hear the speech.

Fellow board member Nancy Lee Crowder said that she likes to listen to the speech with her child and would prefer to have an opt-out clause.

How do you feel? Tell us in the comments section below.

And check back with the Baldwin-Whitehall Patch later on Thursday for more odds and ends from Wednesday night’s school board meeting.