Residents react to speech delay

Limits on the Newport-Mesa Unified School District’s technology was the only reason President Obama’s speech was not aired live to students Tuesday morning, but all principals supported showing it later, Supt. Jeffrey Hubbard said.

In what government officials are saying was the first of its kind, Obama gave a first-day-of-school speech directly to children nationwide, telling them that their future is in their hands and encouraging them to work hard for it.

With debates on health care and other domestic issues on the forefront of public consciousness, some across the country, including in Orange County, claimed Obama’s speech was an attempt to indoctrinate children with his politics.

The speech proved to be anything but, with Hubbard saying Obama’s comments were “very appropriate, and they were encouraging to our kids.” Hubbard announced last week that the district would record the president’s speech and give principals the option to show it at their convenience. He said everyone he talked to seemed up for the idea, but could not offer specifics on when schools may show it.

Theories abounded on why the district was not showing the speech live. Through e-mails to Daily Pilot reporters and comments on the Pilot website, some claimed the district had succumbed to right-wing pressure in the community.

“I am certainly troubled that so many folks believe we were susceptible to political considerations and/or complaints regarding this decision,” Hubbard wrote in an e-mail to parents Tuesday afternoon. “That is simply not true. We have already begun the process of reviewing our ability to show a live address, on short notice, should the occasion arrive again.”

Many schools showed the president’s inauguration in January, but they had more than two weeks’ notice to prepare district servers for the broadcast, Hubbard said. The district had less than a week in this case. No one brought up the idea of broadcasting the speech in school gyms and showing it to students there, he said.

If principals decide to show the speech to their students, parents will still have the option to keep their children from hearing the president’s words. That’s probably something Chloe Conti would take advantage of for her grandkids.

“I don’t think the president should talk to kids,” Conti said Tuesday as she picked up her grandchild from California Elementary School. “It has shades of Big Brother.”

Donna Barnhard-Swift, who also has a child at the school, liked the idea of the district delaying it so parents could see what he said.

She also noted that the first day of school is hectic enough that it would probably be easier for teachers to find a better time to show Obama’s speech.

“We give those speeches to our kids anyway,” she said.

Maria Quinn, who has a fifth-grader in the district, said she wished her child had the chance to see it live.

“It would motivate them to know the president is talking to them,” she said.

Parents who want their children not to see the president’s speech, if their school shows it, can get the opt-out form at web.nmusd.us.