BCT Editorial – 9/8/09

This page was last updated on September 9, 2009.

Unbelievable; Editorial; Beaver County Times; September 8, 2009.

You won’t be surprised the editorial omitted a few facts while whining about “incredibly incendiary and delusional response to the announcement that Obama would be delivering a back-to-school speech to America’s children.”

First, while no one had “heard or seen the speech,” the U.S. Department of Education sent out lesson plans that asked students to write letters to themselves about how they could help President Obama achieve his goals. The Secretary of Education eventually conceded the materials sent to the schools were “poorly worded.”

Second, the editorial failed to note the response to a similar speech by then-President George H.W. Bush in 1991. The Democrat-controlled Congress objected, held hearings, and demanded an investigation by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). The GAO found Mr. Bush did nothing wrong. This time the Democrat-controlled Congress was silent.

Third, the National Education Association (NEA) – a teacher labor union – also objected, complaining the $26,000 spent on the event took money from education. This time the NEA promoted the speech, writing “Teachers are encouraged to have students listen to the speech or show a video of the speech later during the first weeks of school. NEA has developed and discovered resources to help address and extend some of the ideas in the President’s speech.” As far as I can tell, the NEA hasn’t complained about the cost of the event.