Obama's student speech sparks Republican protest

United States, Sep 4: The Republicans opposed the United States President Barack Obama"s television speech for U S students to be shown on Tuesday, Sep 8, on White House website and through the C-SPAN cable network.

The Republicans accused Barack Obama of using the event to promote political agenda.

“Questions have arisen about the purpose of this address and some of the specific tasks suggested for young students," Representatives John Kline, the senior Republican on the House Education Committee, and Thaddeus McCotter, chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee, said in a Wednesday, Sept 2 letter to Obama.

The Education Department kept the viewing of this program optional for students.

The remarks are intended to encourage children to study, in the same way President George H W Bush did in 1991. when he gave a back-to-school address, said Tommy Vietor, a spokesman for Obama.

“This isn"t a policy speech," Vietor said in an interview.

However, Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer, called it Obama's attempt to 'indoctrinate America"s children to his socialist agenda.'

School districts in states such as Texas and Kentucky reported of receiving complaints from parents regarding the speech.

The Dallas Independent School District received about 100 calls on Thursday, Sep 3, mostly favouting Obama's speech while some objected to their wards watching the speech telecast.

Jon Dahlander,district spokesman that it is left to the school whether to to show the speech.

“We think any speech by a United States president is worthy of attention, especially if he"s emphasizing the importance of education," Dahlander said.

OneIndia News