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Superintendent Sorry for Blocking Obama Speech
Date: Monday, September 14, 2009, 5:55 am
By: Denise Stewart, BlackAmericaWeb.com
A Texas school superintendent apologized Friday for his decision not to allow students to watch President Barack Obama’s recent back to school speech live <span style="font-weight: bold">while</span> earlier consenting to busing about 500 students to see former President George W. Bush talk about a Super Bowl volunteer initiative.
Arlington Independent School District Superintendent Jerry McCullough issued the apology, which has received mixed reactions in the community.
The local NAACP president and some parents said the apology didn’t go far enough. A local minister, who had earlier criticized McCullough publicly, says now that he accepts the superintendent’s apology and can forgive him.
“It’s discrimination,” Anthony Brown, a parent of a third-grade student at Bebensee Elementary School, told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “I didn’t learn until watching the 10 o’clock news the Monday before the speech that it would not be shown. At that point, I couldn’t arrange to take off from work to make sure my child saw the speech, and so far we’ve only been able to watch snippets of the speech on the Internet.”
Brown said he called the school board to complain, and he has also called the Arlington NAACP because he does not accept the explanation for tuning out Obama at school while busing students in the middle of the school day to see the former president.
McCullough said there was no relationship between the decisions made about the Obama speech and the unrelated trip for students to a community kickoff for the 2011 Super Bowl, where Bush will be speaking on Sept. 21.
“In retrospect, I can see how the district’s decisions concerning these two events could be seen as favoring one event over another," McCullough said in a prepared statement posted on the school system’s Web site. "I made the decision to record President Obama’s speech and make it available to teachers for use at a later time.”
“I realize that this does not take the place of watching the speech live, but I am encouraging teachers to use President Obama’s speech on the importance of education and personal responsibility as an educational resource in their classrooms when and how they deem most appropriate for their students,” he said.
Rita Sibert, president of the Arlington NAACP, said she has received several calls from parents and teachers who are not pleased with the school district’s handling of the matter.
“Some teachers, including a white teacher, called me and said it’s as if now, the superintendent is placing the decision on showing the speech on them,” Sibert told BlackAmericaweb.com.
In his speech Tuesday, President Obama talked about the need for students to stay in school and strive for excellence. In Arlington and several other Texas school systems, staying in school has been a big issue. Only 61 percent of Hispanic students graduated in the class of 2007, and 68 percent of black students in that same year. Whites had a graduation rate of 96 percent, according to the most recent data available from the Texas Education Agency.
When the local NAACP first learned that Arlington ISD would not be showing the speech live, the organization issued a statement asking that it be made available to all students.
“They (school district) had a chance to do the right thing, and they did not,” Sibert said.
“People have been asking me what they should do. I tell them they have a right to call the school board, attend meetings and call the superintendent to let them know how they feel,” Sibert said.
Although Arlington ISD has a racially diverse population of about 29,000 students, it still is plagued by cultural insensitivity, Sibert said.
About 60 percent of the students in the district are either black or Hispanic, according to reports submitted to the Texas Education Agency. But the administrators who lead the system and the teachers in the classroom don’t reflect the general makeup of the student body, Sibert said. And there are no blacks on the elected school board.
The NAACP has been involved for several years, working with the school system to stress the importance of equitable representation at all levels in the district, Sibert said.
The Rev. William Dwight McKissic of Arlington’s Cornerstone Baptist Church had publicly questioned the school system’s decision not to show the Obama speech live last week. His church opened its doors to parents who wanted to bring their children to watch the broadcast.
Since then, McKissic indicated on his Web site, he has talked with the superintendent and can now accept his apology.
“Many of Arlington’s citizens, of all colors and political persuasions, were hurt and disappointed by the decision to not allow AISD schools to show President Obama’s education address Tuesday morning during the live broadcast hour. It is our prayer that Mr. McCullough’s apology will heal the hurt and that the Arlington community will forgive him so that we can put this matter behind us for the sake of our children,” McKissic said in his prepared statement.
“<span style="font-weight: bold">We do not impugn racist motives, attitude or intention to Mr. McCullough’s decision to not show the Obama speech,” McKissic said. "However, we believe his decision to not show the speech reflected a lack of cultural awareness, sensitivity, abandonment of the historic principle of public schools’ commitment to political neutrality, and political partisanship."</span>
Date: Monday, September 14, 2009, 5:55 am
By: Denise Stewart, BlackAmericaWeb.com
A Texas school superintendent apologized Friday for his decision not to allow students to watch President Barack Obama’s recent back to school speech live <span style="font-weight: bold">while</span> earlier consenting to busing about 500 students to see former President George W. Bush talk about a Super Bowl volunteer initiative.
Arlington Independent School District Superintendent Jerry McCullough issued the apology, which has received mixed reactions in the community.
The local NAACP president and some parents said the apology didn’t go far enough. A local minister, who had earlier criticized McCullough publicly, says now that he accepts the superintendent’s apology and can forgive him.
“It’s discrimination,” Anthony Brown, a parent of a third-grade student at Bebensee Elementary School, told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “I didn’t learn until watching the 10 o’clock news the Monday before the speech that it would not be shown. At that point, I couldn’t arrange to take off from work to make sure my child saw the speech, and so far we’ve only been able to watch snippets of the speech on the Internet.”
Brown said he called the school board to complain, and he has also called the Arlington NAACP because he does not accept the explanation for tuning out Obama at school while busing students in the middle of the school day to see the former president.
McCullough said there was no relationship between the decisions made about the Obama speech and the unrelated trip for students to a community kickoff for the 2011 Super Bowl, where Bush will be speaking on Sept. 21.
“In retrospect, I can see how the district’s decisions concerning these two events could be seen as favoring one event over another," McCullough said in a prepared statement posted on the school system’s Web site. "I made the decision to record President Obama’s speech and make it available to teachers for use at a later time.”
“I realize that this does not take the place of watching the speech live, but I am encouraging teachers to use President Obama’s speech on the importance of education and personal responsibility as an educational resource in their classrooms when and how they deem most appropriate for their students,” he said.
Rita Sibert, president of the Arlington NAACP, said she has received several calls from parents and teachers who are not pleased with the school district’s handling of the matter.
“Some teachers, including a white teacher, called me and said it’s as if now, the superintendent is placing the decision on showing the speech on them,” Sibert told BlackAmericaweb.com.
In his speech Tuesday, President Obama talked about the need for students to stay in school and strive for excellence. In Arlington and several other Texas school systems, staying in school has been a big issue. Only 61 percent of Hispanic students graduated in the class of 2007, and 68 percent of black students in that same year. Whites had a graduation rate of 96 percent, according to the most recent data available from the Texas Education Agency.
When the local NAACP first learned that Arlington ISD would not be showing the speech live, the organization issued a statement asking that it be made available to all students.
“They (school district) had a chance to do the right thing, and they did not,” Sibert said.
“People have been asking me what they should do. I tell them they have a right to call the school board, attend meetings and call the superintendent to let them know how they feel,” Sibert said.
Although Arlington ISD has a racially diverse population of about 29,000 students, it still is plagued by cultural insensitivity, Sibert said.
About 60 percent of the students in the district are either black or Hispanic, according to reports submitted to the Texas Education Agency. But the administrators who lead the system and the teachers in the classroom don’t reflect the general makeup of the student body, Sibert said. And there are no blacks on the elected school board.
The NAACP has been involved for several years, working with the school system to stress the importance of equitable representation at all levels in the district, Sibert said.
The Rev. William Dwight McKissic of Arlington’s Cornerstone Baptist Church had publicly questioned the school system’s decision not to show the Obama speech live last week. His church opened its doors to parents who wanted to bring their children to watch the broadcast.
Since then, McKissic indicated on his Web site, he has talked with the superintendent and can now accept his apology.
“Many of Arlington’s citizens, of all colors and political persuasions, were hurt and disappointed by the decision to not allow AISD schools to show President Obama’s education address Tuesday morning during the live broadcast hour. It is our prayer that Mr. McCullough’s apology will heal the hurt and that the Arlington community will forgive him so that we can put this matter behind us for the sake of our children,” McKissic said in his prepared statement.
“<span style="font-weight: bold">We do not impugn racist motives, attitude or intention to Mr. McCullough’s decision to not show the Obama speech,” McKissic said. "However, we believe his decision to not show the speech reflected a lack of cultural awareness, sensitivity, abandonment of the historic principle of public schools’ commitment to political neutrality, and political partisanship."</span>
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