[solemnclockwork]

MMM,

Two things jump out at me.

One being the so called right-wing extremists, second being conservative media machine. For whatever reason has it occurred that there *might* be a little evidence that would point to socialists tendencies? Van Jones comes to mind. That said, the White house has acknowledged that the wording may lead some to believe in negative way in a honest way. To this the country is VERY polarized right now, even more with health care people are up in arms over everything. Now the question is, are they honest about what they believe?

there is some truth in ignoring the far-lefts/rights, and not giving them a platform.

PolitiFact | Republican Party of Florida says Obama will "indoctrinate" schoolchildren with "socialist ideology"

We searched previous media reports to see if former President George W. Bush ever gave a nationwide address to schoolchildren, but based on our search, it appears he did not. He did, however, regularly visit individual schools and discuss the importance of education with students.

We did learn, however, that President George H.W. Bush addressed the nation's students in a televised speech during school hours in 1991. ''I can't understand for the life of me what's so great about being stupid,'' Bush said, according to news reports from the time. He told students to ''block out the kids who think it's not cool to be smart'' and ''work harder, learn more.''

Democrats at the time criticized the speech. "The Department of Education should not be producing paid political advertising for the president, it should be helping us to produce smarter students," said Richard Gephardt, then the Democratic majority leader in the House of Representatives.

Republican Newt Gingrich defended Bush's speech, though. "Why is it political for the president of the United States to discuss education?" Gingrich said at the time. "It was done at a nonpolitical site and was beamed to a nonpolitical audience. . . . They wanted to reach the maximum audience with the maximum effect to improve education."

It's the same old thing going on in politics.

One thing confuses me. The usage of Fox News, to put it bluntly are you attacking or supporting them?
CMPA: Center for Media and Public Affairs

Here's a actual link to the materials for anyone use.
http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/academic/bts.html\
http://www.ed.gov/teachers/how/lessons/7-12.pdf
http://www.ed.gov/teachers/how/lessons/prek-6.pdf

I don't believe he should be speaking to the students, why you might ask, several reasons. Right now he needs to be working on health care, and putting up a BI-partisan bill. Arguably you can say kids are important, but are they going to go down a drain if they are not spoken to by the president? I question the effectiveness of this (If it inspires one kid to do good then it was a success). One could also say he is wasting around a hour of actual class time, but that arguable too. Education system needs fixen, but talking and trying to inspire people only go so far before reality hits them. Simply put, in a way there are more pressing concerns right now then giving a speech, which could be given at a later date, while also putting the focus on education.