A great boilerplate letter circulating by email:
Dear <<<>>> School Board Members:
I am the parent of a child in a <<>> School District elementary school. In connection with President Obama’s scheduled speech to all of the nation’s public schoolchildren next week, I have a few questions:
1. Does the federal government exercise control over the local public elementary schools? That is, can the President of the United States dictate the timing and subject matter of presentations to elementary school students?
2. Does the School Board have a choice concerning whether to broadcast President Obama’s speech?
3. If the school board has a choice, when will the school board meet to decide its course of action? If there is no special or regular meeting to make the decision, when and how will that decision be made?
4. Do school principals have a choice concerning whether to broadcast President Obama’s speech to all of its students?
5. Do teachers have a choice concerning whether or when to broadcast the speech? Will all teachers be required to broadcast the speech and conduct the federal government’s recommended pre-speech activities and follow up discussions as an addition to the regular school day curriculum?
6. If the decision is made to broadcast the President’s speech in the classroom, will parents be offered a choice to exempt their children from this broadcast and its attendant activities without a marked absence or other penalty?
Thank you very much for your responses to these questions prior to the September 8th event.
Sincerely,
That is a very good, inquisitive letter. I am going to have some fun with it.