Editorial: Partisan politics hinder Obama’s address to students

It wasn’t supposed to be like this: the controversy, the questioning and the roars of… It wasn’t supposed to be like this: the controversy, the questioning and the roars of discontent from parents.

Today at noon Eastern Standard Time, President Obama will deliver a televised live speech to K-12 students across the United States to address the importance of staying in school and studying hard.

He’s also added a few suggested student lesson plans for the teachers. Unfortunately, however, all the debate over his speech hinders any real educational benefit it might provide.

The White House insists Obama’s speech intends to reinforce the importance of academics. According to an article on CNN.com, some parents and teachers are still skeptical. They insist the address will inject a partisan political agenda on young students. Some view the address as uninvited and disruptive to the school day and question why it wasn’t released over a more voluntary medium such as YouTube.

The decision whether to show the speech has, in some cases, been left to individual school districts or superintendents. Other schools are allowing principals and individual teachers to decide.

Regardless, most schools are allowing parents to opt out their children if they disagree with the viewing. Some parents will even keep their children home for the day.

Concerning all the controversy, this matter is a textbook case of heated partisanship disagreement that both blurs and undermines the issue at hand.

White House officials probably believed this event would provide a chance for Obama to offer a few words of encouragement to students — they didn’t foresee such widespread, passionate dispute.

Perhaps the response, largely from right-wing America, is overblown. As a precaution, the White House has already released the lesson plans and a transcript of the speech to be vetted by wary parents. And again, the White House maintains there’ll be no attempt to sway or impress political ideals.

Yet the onslaught of debate overshadows the issue’s substance: Parents and schools seem more concerned about the potential infringement of the address rather than its intended message. The real concern — students’ progression through grade school — seems lost in the wave of political upheaval.

It would be unfair to blame the turmoil on conservative America, because if former President George W. Bush attempted such an address during his later years in office, many liberals would have been equally opposed.

The real problem lies in forcing a seemingly uncontroversial issue into becoming a subject of partisan contention — a reflection of the aggressiveness of today’s political scene.

Obama has faced intense partisan challenges on the health care debate and uncertain economy. But those are issues worthy of such deliberation because of the extent of their impact and because they’re ongoing.

Although this matter shows parents are concerned with their children’s upbringing, it’s unfortunate to see a plan with assumingly good intention morphed into a frenzied debate that now carries little relevancy in the way of students and education.