President-elect Barack Obama, flanked by Vice President-elect Joe Biden, left, and future Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, speaks to elementary school children on Dec. 16 in Chicago.
Some schools won't show President Obama's online speech to the nation's students Tuesday because of the objections of administrators and parents.
Independence, Mo., School District Superintendent Jim Hinson says he's gotten "more calls than we've ever had on an issue," some from parents who will keep their children home Tuesday.
Obama will challenge students "to work hard, stay in school and dramatically reduce the dropout rate" in the noon ET speech, says White House spokesman Tommy Vietor. "This isn't a policy speech."
Lesson plans sent to schools originally suggested that students write letters to themselves "about what they can do to help the president." That language prompted conservative radio host Glenn Beck to say the White House goal is the "indoctrination" of children.
This week, the wording was changed to suggest that students' letters focus on ways to achieve their educational goals, Vietor says. The speech will be posted online Monday, he says.
Sandra Abrevaya, U.S. Education Department spokeswoman, notes that President George H.W. Bush addressed the nation's students on live TV in 1991.
Regardless of who the president is, says Brett Curtis, a parent in Pearland, Texas, "I don't want him coming into the schools and making a political speech to my children. ... It's just wrong."
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