Sep 06, 2009 (Mineral Wells Index - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Texas schools potentially face an educational "Catch 22" position Tuesday with President Barack Obama's national address to give American students a pep talk on staying in school and working hard to get an education.

The president's televised back-to-school address has triggered partisan concern and drawn some right-wing ire. According to the Department of Education, Obama's educational objective is to communicate directly to students on the importance of taking responsibility for their success in school.

The decision to air or not to air the 15- to 20-minute speech put local school officials in a sticky position. If they air the program live at 11 a.m. there's a chance parents, not wanting their kids to see the speech, could keep their children home. If students stay home Tuesday, they personally suffer from falling behind -- going against the goal of the speech -- and the school can suffer from their lack of attendance that day -- attendance translates into state income for the district.

On the converse side, if schools don't air the speech, other parents could become equally inflamed.

The Index received some calls and e-mails to "make sure [Obama's speech is] not mandatory and that parents have the option to take their kids out," said one unidentified caller.

But community concern that President Obama will address kid directly and over what he might say to kids isn't the only issue leading area school districts to decide to not air Tuesday's speech during school.

Mineral Wells ISD and several districts have some logistical factors affecting their decision. MWISD Superintendent Ronny Collins said one factor is timing since Obama's speech is scheduled during lunch time. The other major factor is that MWISD is not set up to provide streaming video in all locations throughout its campuses.

For these reasons, MWISD school officials have decided to tape the speech and make it available through the district's Web site -- www.mwisd.net -- for all in the community to see. For those without Internet capabilities, the district will provide the speech on a DVD.

"We want to make it so it's available for those who want it," said Collins. "It's awkward for us, we're put in the center of this thing, we have parents on both sides of the issue.

"We're doing the best we can to make it available. The only way for kids to see it will be to get on the Web site or get a DVD," he added. "If parents are keeping kids home because they think we're going to show it in class that day, we're not." Gordon ISD and Millsap ISD will handle the speech in similar ways, also because of lunch schedules and the inability to stream live video throughout the district.

"We are going to make a link to the speech available on our Web site and let the parents know it is there," said GISD Superintendent Jon Hartgraves. "If requested, we will have it available on DVD." "By putting the link on our Web site, the parents will be able to choose whether or not to view the speech with their children. There was not enough time to get a parent permission letter out and get a response back from them," he added.

Millsap ISD Superintendent Jerry Lee Hunkapiller said they received "sporadic calls" asking about the district's plan on Tuesday.

"We will not show it during school on that day due to the fact we do not have the capability on such short notice," Hunkapiller said. "We will have a link on our Web site for parents or others wishing to view it. This way they can decide to view it or not to view it." Perrin-Whitt Consolidated ISD Superintendent Darren Francis said they received "about five calls against a group viewing" of Obama's speech. Like other superintendents, he said logistics and not having much advance information effect showing the live streaming video.

"The district will make the speech available as an instructional resource," said Francis. "Students and parents will also be able to access the speech through a link on the district's Web site." Lesson plans Some may wonder if American students could be losing out by not seeing the speech live within their educational environment, where peer discourse is most likely to take place.

In addition to the president's address, the Department of Education offers a package of lesson plans developed by and for teachers to use with students before, during and after Obama's speech.

Individual and classroom lessons are geared toward students in grades pre-kindergarten through six and in grades seven through 12 and are available on www.ed.gov.

Activities encourage students to consider and write their personal academic goals for the school year and identify the steps to achieve them. In an extension activity the Department of Education invites students age 13 and older to submit a video no longer than two minutes in length, explaining why education is important and how education will help them achieve their dreams.

But the lessons seem to have triggered concern with some Americans. Fox News stated that what is troubling some education experts is a lesson plan suggesting students "write letters to themselves about what they can do to help President Obama." The White House made changes to its suggested lesson plans, which include: --Writing letters to themselves about how they can achieve their short-term and long-term education goals.

--As the president speaks, teachers can ask students to write down key ideas or phrases that are important or personally meaningful.

--Students could discuss their responses to the following questions: What do you think the president wants us to do? Does the speech make you want to do anything? Are we able to do what President Obama is asking of us? What would you like to tell the president? How to watch The president will address the nation's kindergarten through 12 students from Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va., at 11 a.m. (CST). The speech will stream live on www.whitehouse.gov/live/ and will be broadcast live on C-Span.

Anyone can access the speech and lesson plans at www.ed.gov. In addition, C-SPAN.org will provide "on-demand" and archived viewing options of Obama's speech.

To see more of the Mineral Wells Index or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.mineralwellsindex.com/. Copyright (c) 2009, Mineral Wells Index, Texas Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

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