Kids Didn't Hear Obama, But Will Be Bussed for Bush

Kids Didn't Hear Obama, But Will Be Bussed for Bush

The Arlington Independent School District, which passed on airing President Barack Obama's live classroom address, has announced that some students will be bussed off campus to hear a message from former President George W. Bush on Sept. 21.

District officials said it's part of a Cowboys Stadium field trip that the North Texas Super Bowl Host Committee invited 28 fifth-grade classes to attend several months ago.

In addition to hearing from Bush and former first lady Laura Bush, the students will hear from legendary Dallas Cowboys players and North Texas business and community leaders. The event launches the Super Bowl committee's largest-ever youth education program.

Students must have their parents' permission to attend, school officials said.

Dwight McKissic Sr., the senior pastor of Arlington's Cornerstone Baptist Church, said he's concerned about the district's decision to not broadcast Obama's message while transporting students to hear a message from Bush.

"I do not understand the duplicity in this situation," McKissic said in a news release from the church. "I believe the students and the public deserve and need to have these differences explained."

Obama told students to stay in school, work hard and set goals in an 18-minute speech delivered Tuesday morning from Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va.

The Arlington school district, like many in North Texas, decided not to broadcast the president's speech live after some parents expressed concern about its content.

The district said the recorded speech would be made available through its Web site.

The school district allowed students with permission slips from parents an excused absence to watch Obama's speech at an off-site location.

Cornerstone Baptist Church was among the facilities that broadcast Obama's address for students and parents who wanted to watch the speech live
.

So does this show a double standard. Does this show that it is just a political ploy to complain about Obama giving a speach to school children.

Originally posted by JBA2848
So does this show a double standard. Does this show that it is just a political ploy to complain about Obama giving a speach to school children.

No, it actually shows perfect equality.

FOR BUSH:

some students will be bussed off campus...*SNIP*
Students must have their parents' permission to attend, school officials said.

FOR OBAMA:

The school district allowed students with permission slips from parents an excused absence to watch Obama's speech at an off-site location.

Hmmm... parental permission + off-site hearing of speeches. What part of this demonstrates any double standard whatsoever? (Except for the fact that at the Bush event there will be "legendary Dallas Cowboys players", whereas the poor kids who listened to Obama did so sans anyone "legendary.")

edited because my fat, clumsy fingers caused a spelling error..


[edit on 10-9-2009 by burdman30ott6]

www.aisd.net...

Response to media inquiries
ARLINGTON, TX-September 8, 2009
Several months ago the North Texas Super Bowl Host Committee invited 28 fifth-grade classes to attend a field trip to the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium to announce details of what will be one of the largest youth-education program in Super Bowl history. Students will hear from business and community leaders throughout North Texas, legendary Dallas Cowboys, and the 43rd President of the United States George W. Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush, the program’s honorary chairs. Parents of students in the randomly selected classes must grant written permission to participate in the event, as is the practice with any field trip.

The district did not show President Obama's address to schoolchildren today live, but the recorded speech will be made available in the future as an instructional resource as deemed appropriate to the district's curriculum. The district will allow parents the opportunity to opt out and request an alternative assignment if a teacher uses the recorded presidential address as an instructional tool at a later date. Students and parents will also be able to access the recorded speech through a link on the district's Web site.

Students with appropriate parent notification (phone call, e-mail, letter, etc.) were dismissed from school for one-half of the regular school day to watch the president's address at an off-site location (home, church, community center, etc.). This was considered an excused absence. Students were to return to school within a reasonable time after the address. For students that remained on campus, the day was a regularly scheduled instruction day.

Look like that special event with Bush was advertising for there new parks being built in Arlington. So so much for meeting business leaders they were getting a sales pitch.

www.northtexassuperbowl.com...

Excitement is building in Arlington. This central location in the heart of the Dallas/Fort Worth area provides access to world-class entertainment, fun, shopping, dining and the best sports venues. For more than 46 years now, Arlington has been the destination of choice for families looking for a great time and magical memories.

Super Bowl fans will find everything from Six Flags Over Texas, Texas’ first and biggest theme park and home to Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and the most thrilling coasters around, to Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. From the splashy thrills of Six Flags Hurricane Harbor to the classic Legends of the Game Baseball Museum. From bowling to shopping, it’s all here.

Oh yeah, did we mention the National Football League excitement with America’s Team, the Dallas Cowboys, in their new $1.2 billion stadium opening in 2009?

So, whether it’s a few days on thrilling coasters at Six Flags Over Texas, cheering on the Texas Rangers at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, splashing around at Hurricane Harbor, or admiring the colossal construction of the “world’s best” state-of-the-art stadium for “America’s Team,” the Dallas Cowboys, Arlington, Texas, is where the action is.

Letter from the Mayor.

reply to post by JBA2848




Yes, I'm sure they're bussing those schoolchildren to Arlington to give them sales picthes and talk them all into becoming corporate sponsors. You linked to the new Texas' stadium's Super Bowl Host Committee commercial website, man. It has nothing to do with the Host Committee media event that's planned for the 21st. They seem to be simply planning on taking a bit of time to talk to and meet a bunch of kids from the area, most of whom are probably big Cowboy fans and who's parents most likely supported the former president. Like I said earlier, this is a non story.

www.ci.arlington.tx.us...

Community outreach and legacy to impact North Texas children and families Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief said there is much more to hosting the Super Bowl than the Game and the events that precede it. “In fact, one of the most important reasons to host a Super Bowl is the lasting and positive impact the Game and the events that precede it have on a community, especially on our children and their families,” said Mayor Moncrief. The NFL requires that any city or community hosting the Super Bowl establish an NFL Youth Education Town (YET) in an economically disadvantaged area designed to impact the lives of children and families long after the Game is over.
The North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee is also developing an educational component designed to involve students from the region’s high schools during the 2010 fall semester that will encourage both attendance and performance. Students who attend class and do well during the fall semester before Super Bowl XLV the following February will be awarded with admission to the NFL Experience and the opportunity to meet former NFL greats, many of whom will be members of Troy Aikman’s Legends Action Team. This unique component will use the Super Bowl and current and former NFL greats as catalysts to encourage children to understand the importance of attending class and achieving at the highest possible academic level. “The Host Committee also has a key responsibility to recruit as many as 10,000 volunteers to staff its many events,” said Mayor Moncrief..

[edit on 10-9-2009 by JBA2848]

Oh great, that's all we need -- Bush telling students that the jury is out on evolution.

And "we" wonder why our education system doesn't work, and the population is so stupid. Look at the guy who lead the country for the last 8 years!

reply to post by JBA2848

This is just a political ploy to complain about Obama giving a speech to school children.

The parents have no problem with Bush giving a speech to school children, only Obama.

Separate, but not equal.

It's a case of partisanship, pure and simple.

The double standard doesn't surprise me at all. It's Texas, a state known for leaning heavily to the right. If it were McCain giving the speech, you can bet they would have rolled out the big screens and showed it to all of the students.

If Obama requested the children be bussed out to some other location to give a speech, they would have told him to shove it.

My side vs. your side: The sad state of American politics.

How about stop taking advantage of children and their willingness to accept anything that an important adult tells them is the truth...

Literally you could have Obama tell them that all their names are really bob.....regardless of girl/boy and i'd bet about 90 % ( ages 5-10 ) would believe it and seriously believe it........

Guys, really, its a non-story. No bias, nothing. Obama's speech wasn't shown so as to not ruffle any feathers.

And I live here, I could tell you. I just graduated from a school district that is similar to AISD. I know how they operate.

I'd also say that it would be quite ignorant for someone to say that people in Texas love Bush. Just because McCain "won" Texas, doesn't mean there aren't a hellofa lot of Obama supporters. 9 out of 10 people that I know are Obama supporters. In fact, the only McCain supporters that I know are family members....that live out in the country...and know how to think for themselves (in fact, most of them didn't even like McCain, they just liked him better than Obama). And in all honesty, George and Laura live in Dallas. So their speaking in Arlington is not much of a stretch for me, regardless of what the event.

The school district allowed students whos parents signed a permission slip be bussed to another site to watch the Obama speech.

This same school district is allowing students whos parents signed a permission slip be bussed to another site to hear Bush and others speak.

How exactly is that being biased? Looks to me as if Obama and Bush is being treated the same exact way.

reply to post by riddle6


Small correction, the president and first lady Laura live in Crawford, right outside Waco... About a 2 hour drive from Dallas on a really, really light traffic day. They don't live in Dallas. However, he has a longtime relationship with the Arlington sports scene, having been heavily involved in getting the Rangers a new stadium there many years ago.

reply to post by burdman30ott6


They at least own a house in Dallas (actually, right down the street from the mayor). I heard they planned to live there most of the time, but who knows.

When you say two hours, you do mean really, really light traffic. Too bad its couldn't be like that more often.

[edit on 11-9-2009 by riddle6]