Out Of Town Blooger Is Amazed That Greenwich Public Schools superintendent Dr. Sidney Freund has decided to cave in to exactly ten right-wing crazies and to refuse to air President Obama's live broadcast to Greenwich students on Tuesday. ...Greenwich Schools Superintendent Caves on Obama Address (Jim Himes Speaks Out!)
by: thomashooker
Newly installed Greenwich Public Schools superintendent Dr. Sidney Freund has decided to cave in to exactly ten right-wing crazies and to refuse to air President Obama's live broadcast to Greenwich students on Tuesday. Dr. Freund stated that students will not view the broadcast live as scheduled, but "at a date to be determined".
According to Superintendent Freund, he decided to postpone viewing the president's address "primarily (because the) school district needs time to ensure that technical capacity is in place."
Yet that assertion appears to be false, since a Greenwich Time article quotes Freund as stating that he spent 30% to 40% of his time last week dealing with this issue.
Clearly he had time to deal with the technical issues surrounding the viewing, especially given that the school system was able to arrange for live viewing of President Obama's inauguration in January. He also put forth the excuse that he needed to have an "instructional team" develop "age-appropriate activities to accompany viewing of the president's address."
What a crock! The president didn't ask school systems to come up with activities to accompany the address, but merely to permit American students to view the address on Tuesday.
According to Greenwich Time, Dr. Freund received exactly ten- yes, ten- emails protesting permitting students to hear their president address them, and five in favor of preparing the schools to permit students to view the address. Those few communications spurred Dr. Freund to engage in "careful consideration of all perspectives", after which he decided to pull the plug on the president of the United States.
In essence, it only takes a tiny handful of crazies to make new superintendent Freund act like the head of a school system in Alabama, or the Texas panhandle, or some other place full of uneducated, right-wing extremists. There is little excuse for Dr. Freund's cop-out, because he served for years in nearby Dobbs Ferry, New York.
And Congressman Jim Himes thinks Superintendent Freund is full of crap also. Congressman Himes issued the following statement on Sunday night:
"As a Congressman and as a father to two young girls (who attend Greenwich public schools), I urge all local schools to provide their students the chance to listen to the President's address to school children on Tuesday. Denying children the rare opportunity to hear directly from their President is a disservice to them as students and as young citizens. The President will encourage students to do what we all know is right: to work hard to prepare themselves to be successful citizens in the greatest democracy in the world.
"Whether we agree or disagree with everything the President says, this is a rare chance for classes and families to discuss and debate the President's speech and to develop the thoughtfulness and critical faculties necessary for success in an increasingly complex and challenging world."
It is all the more shameful, because Dr. Freund couched his language announcing that students would not be permitted to view the Tuesday address in language suggesting that they would:
"District to View President's Address to Students", was the title of his press release. He also states, "this is a teachable moment", but just not on the scheduled day of Tuesday, apparently. Yet the truth was precisely the opposite.
And, according to the Greenwich Time article, Connecticut's State Commissioner of Education Mark K. McQuillan: sent a memo to school superintendents Friday calling the controversy over the president's speech 'truly unfortunate,' 'inaccurate' and 'beyond the definition of responsible civil discourse'"
When the state superintendent of schools refers to postponing viewing of the president's address "beyond the definition of responsible discourse", and our United States congressman calls it a "disservice" to our young people, you know that Dr. Freund has come to a lousy decision.
Will Greenwich students be shown the president's address "at a date to be determined"?
Frankly, I doubt it. A couple more right-wing nutjobs will send him emails, and he'll determine that it has to be put off yet again for another to be conjured up reason.
It is a very bad beginning for the new Greenwich Public Schools superintendent. Too bad, because he's the seventh superintendent in just over ten years.
thomashooker :: Greenwich Schools Superintendent Caves on Obama Address (Jim Himes Speaks Out!)
Greenwich Democratic Town Committee chairman Dave Roberson has sent emails urging Democrats and other non-nutjobs to contact the school system and Dr. Freund and demand that he do the decent thing and permit the President of the United States to address the students of Greenwich, Connecticut. Let's hope that he understands what a shameful decision he's made, and in the hours before noon on Tuesday relent and do the right thing.
Too bad that Dr. Freund couldn't display the good sense and courage of his counterpart in Westport. But he still has 24 hours to reconsider. Let's hope he does.
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