Florida leaves children behind on Obama speech

"Whenever a parent calls and says, 'I'm keeping my child home,' it's always excused. We never question what a parent does."

-- Pinellas County Schools Superintendent Julie Janssen

In keeping with George W. Bush’s tradition of leaving every child behind, Florida school superintendents have now decided to teach their students a lesson in treason.

President Barack Obama, in his effort to connect with children in a 15-minute televised education speech next week, will, in the opinion of certain superintendents, be armed with too much liberal propaganda for students to bear.

That’s why Pinellas County parents have been offered the choice to “opt out” their children from school on Tuesday, which nicely parlays Labor Day weekend into a cozy, four-day vacation for those who want to stay home.

One more time for those in the back row: Students will be excused from school because the president will be talking.

I remember being made to watch the damn O.J. verdict in my ninth grade art class. What’s happening?

Here’s the real lesson here for Florida students: Many of your leaders are hopelessly devoted to the Republican Party, and will fight President Obama at every turn. Take Pasco County Schools Superintendent Heather Fiorentino, the three-term Republican state legislator who once cosponsored a bill requiring every public school to display the “In God We Trust” motto. And there’s Mary Ellen Elia, Superintendent of Hillsborough County Schools, who gave money to the Republican National Committee just last November. Somehow this week, right-wing radio revved its engine and allowed school superintendents to drive this unequivocally anti-American decision straight into the history books.

Ah, history books. Talk about propaganda. Find me one school textbook that devotes more than a paragraph to civil rights, the Vietnam War, or Oliver North.

As for compassionate conservatism, Florida has always been really good at being really bad at running elections. TheSunshine State runs the darkest and worst-managed children and families department in the nation. And we’re the only state that refuses gays the right to adopt children.

Ralph Nader remembers his father’s nightly question at the dinner table: “What did you learn in school today? Did you learn how to believe, or did you learn how to think?”

Maybe most parents will decide to send off their children to school Tuesday. Maybe they’ll even decide to gather at the dinner table as a family, and discuss what President Obama had to say.

While people angrily accuse him of spreading socialism and/or fascism, those same critics only encourage anti-patriotism; they spitefully plan to shelter their children from their president, and from what might well be an important lesson.

Whatever happened to staying in school?