There has been a lot of talk about President Obama's education speech lately; at the eleventh hour, the end of Labor Day weekend, I am finally getting my chance to speak up on the topic. I am not going to dive into great detail and rewrite about the excellent points already mentioned in blogs like this one, or this one, but I do feel compelled to add my two cents.
Tomorrow I will be pulling my son out of school.
Okay, well...my son is only six months old...but if he were in school, I would be pulling him out. Yes, I'll be one of those irritating parents who pulls her kids out of school often. I'll pull him out of school to take him to a museum showing a controversial exhibit the school is too afraid to take him to. I'll let him skip class so he can accompany me to the voting poll. We'll keep him home from school when he is so engrossed in a novel he just CAN'T put it down. We'll pull him out of school during state testing so that his time can be better spent volunteering and job shadowing.
And tomorrow we would be pulling him out of school so that he can watch President Obama, LIVE, give a speech meant for HIM. We would sit down together after watching it and have a meaningful discussion on it's content, merit, and affect. We would converse with others via Skype or Twitter to find out their thoughts. We would encourage him to share his ideas with his own personal learning network, maybe blogging about his agreements or concerns. In short, we would not let our son miss out on a pivotal moment in educational leadership or an opportunity to engage in a critical thinking discussion.
To show our support for what will no doubt be a memorable speech (ironically it already is- and he hasn't even said anything), I'm asking my husband to break our "NO T.V. for baby" rule and let Bay watch Mr. Obama's speech. And though I'm sure (as six month olds go) he will only be interested in chewing on his fingers or watching the "flashy colors," it's never to early to teach my son the importance of respect, leadership, and critical thinking.
As a teacher and public citizen I would hope the public schools would be willing to do that with him, but since they aren't, as a responsible parent I am prepared to.
I hope many parents will do the same.
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