'Controversial' speech urges staying in school

WASHINGTON - Conservative activists blasted it as socialist. Worried parents called for boycotts. School administrators struggled over whether to let students hear it.

But in the "back to school" speech President Obama planned to give today, he will do what American presidents have done before - urge students to work hard, stay in school and follow their dreams.

"If you quit on school, you're not just quitting on yourself, you're quitting on your country," says Obama's speech, which is loaded with similar exhortations. The White House released a transcript of the president's remarks yesterday afternoon in hopes of neutralizing those who have charged that he was promoting a political agenda.

The address, intended as an innocuous back-to-school missive, has proven to be a another late-summer distraction for the White House in what is emerging as a critical period for Obama. With his poll numbers sagging, the president had hoped this week to focus on winning public support for his top priority - overhauling the health-care system. But other controversies, small and large, have gotten in the way.

Over the weekend, for example, a top Obama environmental adviser resigned amid a dust-up over remarks he made about Republicans and the fact that he had signed a petition questioning whether the U.S. government had played a role in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

In the transcript of the school speech released yesterday, Obama cited the importance of education as an equalizer, the power of social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter, and the importance of working hard and taking personal responsibility.

He planned to talk of the challenges faced by young people in a media culture that seems to offer opportunities to get rich quick.

"I know that sometimes you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work - that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality-TV star when, chances are, you're not going to be any of those things," the speech says.

"But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won't love every subject you study. You won't click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won't necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try."

Obama's speech draws on his own experiences - and those of his wife, Michelle - to argue that education is the key to personal success and to the success of the nation.

"You'll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math . . . to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment," the speech says, and also calls for young people to battle poverty and injustice.

The speech, from a high school in Arlington, Va., scheduled to be delivered at noon EDT, was to be shown on the White House Web site and on C-SPAN.

Presidents George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan gave similar addresses, and both attracted a bit of controversy. But the reaction to Obama's planned speech has been heightened by the political fight over health care and economic issues and a furious effort by conservatives to organize opposition.

When plans for the speech were first announced, they included a "menu of classroom activities" from the Department of Education that suggested that schoolchildren write about "how they could help the president." In a statement, Florida GOP chairman Jim Greer said that he was "absolutely appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama's socialist ideology." Greer could not be reached for comment yesterday after the text of the addresses became public.

But other Republicans have taken a calmer approach. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, of Georgia, defended the idea of the speech, telling Fox News yesterday: "It is good to have the president of the United States saying to young people across America 'stay in school and do your homework.' It's good for America."

Yesterday afternoon, one critic issued a statement lauding the White House for posting an advance copy of the plan.

"Parents, teachers and local school leaders were not wrong to look with suspicion on a federally developed curriculum to accompany this speech," said Alexa Marrero, an aide to Republican Rep. John Kline, of Minnesota, the ranking member of the House Education and Workforce Committee who initially was critical of the speech plan.

"The strong reaction we've seen from coast to coast is a reminder that federal intrusion into the classroom brings with it a number of unintended consequences. It's a lesson we should remember as Congress looks to reform our education laws in the coming months and years."