By Debbie Carson, Online Editor
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — One day before President Barack Obama is scheduled to address students in schools nationwide, the White House released the text of his speech in which he stresses hard work and calls on his audience to set their own educational goals.
The Indian River County’s School District decided last week that it would not show the president’s speech live on Tuesday because officials would not have adequate time to review the content of the speech before its scheduled noon airing on C-Span. During the speech President Obama will acknowledge the difficult circumstances many students face, but he challenges his audience to work hard and take personal responsibility for achieving their future dreams.”That’s why today, I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education – and to do everything you can to meet them,” the president says in the prepared text.He also addresses the challenges he faced — how his father had left the family, leaving his mother as a single parent — and tells the school children they should not make excuses for neglecting their schoolwork.
“But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude,” the president is expected to say during his speech. “That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying.”
He also stressed that whatever career the students select, their foundation would be a good education.”And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it…,” he says. “You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.”
School Superintendent Dr. Harry La Cava’s decision not to air the president’s speech live based on the school district’s established policies, has split the School Board on whether he had made the correct decision. The district is expected to record the speech before making a determination as to whether or not to show the address.To read President Obama’s educational address to students, click HERE. (Note: You will be leaving the VeroNews.com Web site and taken to the White House Web site at www.whitehouse.gov).