The president will speak at noon Tuesday from Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va. The address will be broadcast live via the Internet on the White House's Web site, www.whitehouse.gov, and televised live on C-SPAN.
Obama is scheduled to talk for 15 to 20 minutes. The U.S. Education Department is providing educational resources for teachers. Classroom activities for students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade can be found at www.ed.gov.
The planned speech has sparked an outcry from conservatives across the country and in Cobb. Minnesota Congressman John Kline, a Republican, has demanded that the president publicly release his remarks in advance, which the White House plans to do several hours beforehand, online, so parents can read it.
Michael Optiz, president of the conservative Marietta-based Madison Forum, said he is specifically opposed to the White House sending out educational material related to Obama's speech. He said doing so violates the law.
On Thursday, he sent an e-mail to more than 100 of the forum's members and e-mail list guests, opposing allowing students to watch the address and linking Obama's education policy to a 1960s radical.
"We need to understand how Georgia's children will be subject to this and other classroom propaganda discussions supporting Obama's directions using William Ayers' classroom techniques to indoctrinate children," Optiz wrote.
Sherri Reese of Kennesaw has two daughters who attend Hayes Elementary School in grades three and five. She is against allowing the president's address be heard in schools and said she will not allow her daughters to watch.
"Talking to my children about their personal educational goals is my job as a parent, not the job of government employees," said Reese, who sits on the Madison Forum's advisory board. "If a teacher were to do this, they should ask parents to join in such a project."
In an interview with the Associated Press, Heather Higginbottom, White House deputy policy director, said, "I think it's really unfortunate that politics has been brought into this."
"It's simply a plea to students to really take their learning seriously. Find out what they're good at. Set goals. And take the school year seriously."
She noted that President George H.W. Bush made a similar address to schools in 1991. Like Obama, Bush drew criticism, with Democrats accusing the Republican president of making the event into a campaign commercial.
Schools do not have to show the speech. Districts in states including Texas, Illinois, Virginia and Wisconsin have decided not to show it to students.
The Cobb School District has made it optional for its schools to participate. In a message posted on the district's Website, Cobb Schools Superintendent Fred Sanderson wrote:
"The District has confirmed that the speech will remain available for viewing on the White House web site following the live broadcast, which provides an excellent opportunity for parents to watch this historic presentation with their children at home if they so choose. We encourage schools to recommend this option, and to also provide information to parents about how they can view the speech with their children."
Sanderson said that if schools want to incorporate the speech into their curricular activities, "they may do so on a voluntary basis provided they notify parents in advance and provide an opportunity for students to opt out of the broadcast. Students who do not participate will not be penalized in any way."
Officials in the Cobb district said the schools and central office have received quite a few calls about Obama's address, mostly from parents wondering whether or not it's mandatory.
Officials with the Marietta School District also said it will make watching the president's address optional. A letter will be sent to parents today stating that the speech will be available for students to view, but students will not be penalized if they decide not to participate, according to the district.
The U.S. Education Department invites students of all ages, teachers and administrators to participate in the address. It's launching an "I am What I Learn" video contest. On Tuesday, students age 13 and older will be invited to respond to Obama's challenge by creating 2-minute videos describing how they intend to improve their education and what role education will play in fulfilling their dreams.
The videos should be uploaded to YouTube by Oct. 8 and can be in the form of a video blog, public service announcement, documentary or music video. The public will then vote to determine the top 20 finalists. Those videos will be reviewed by a panel of judges, including Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who'll choose three winners. Each winner will receive a $1,000 cash prize.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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Where I take issue is with the federal government issuing lesson plans and telling teachers what to do. The Federal Government is not supposed to be involved in the running of our local schools. Curriculum is up to the local school district, school board, teachers and parents – NOT the Executive Branch of our Government – regardless what political party they represent.
In almost 30 years as an educator, I do not recall any president – democrat or republican – providing such a suggested lesson plan to accompany his speech.
From what I see and hear, a good portion of our country still does not trust this new president. Not enough is known about him or his past and we haven’t seen anything so far in his administration that is going to change any minds about his capabilities or intentions. If the trust were there, this whole situation would not even be an issue.
Also – it did not appear that this was a well planned and well thought out even. I know that several school officials did not even know about this even one week before the date. That is not usual with a government agency.
Yet – another reason to be skeptical….
God we have a President to inspire our children to work hard in school.
We basically require every school child to pledge their allegiance to the flag and our country five days a week.
Yet, when the president of THAT VERY SAME COUNTRY wants to tell them of the importance of the education and good study habits, we freak out and scream HELL NO????
As much the last president made me head hurt, I still had my daughter watch every State of the Union Address (all painful 8 of them), because he was our PRESIDENT, love him or not.
This saddens me and angers me beyond all comprehension.
God forbid they have to listen to the President's speech on forming educational goals.