Obama school speech suddenly a prickly topic for educators

“The goal of the speech and the lesson plans is to challenge students to work hard in school, to not drop out and to meet short-term goals like behaving in class, doing their homework and goals that parents and teachers alike can agree are noble,” spokesman Tommy Vietor told FOXNews.com yesterday. “This isn’t a policy speech. This is a speech designed to encourage kids to stay in school.”

Still, recent news reports indicate that the conservative campaign against the speech seems to be having some effect:

• In Fort-Worth, the Fort-Worth Star Telegram reports, school administrators are "scrambling to decide whether to allow students to watch the live broadcast... Some administrators say they are reluctant to interrupt daily lesson plans and won't show the address live, opting instead to provide an online link to the speech."

• In Minnesota, the speech is a prickly issue for educators, reports Minnesota Public Radio. Schools there have been fielding questions from parents who support the address and parents who oppose it; many districts had not yet decided whether or not to show the broadcast to students.

• In Colorado's Douglas County "the decision to show the speech, and to whom, will be 'site-based,' meaning each principal can determine his or her own policy," reports Westword.

• Dallas officials “are leaving the decision to [view Obama’s address] up to individual teachers,” the Houston Chronicle reports. “[P]arents who don’t want their children to see it can opt out. In Houston, each school will decide.”

• In Columbia, Mo., kids won’t be seeing the speech at all.

Update: White House says resistance to speech is just plain 'silly.'

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