Posted on 03/07/2011 9:48:33 PM PST by doug from upland
White House memo notes shortage of applicants for contest to have Obama to speak at high school graduation
The White House is ramping up an effort to promote a nationwide competition to decide which high school wins a commencement speech by President Obama.
An internal White House memo indicates that the White House is facing a shortage of applications less than a week before the deadline.
The competition was extended from the February 25 deadline until Friday, March 11 after few schools met the original application deadline. CBS News has learned a White House Communications Office internal memo dated February 22 noted "a major issue with the Commencement Challenge."
"As of yesterday we had received 14 applications and the deadline is Friday," the memo said. The memo also urged recipients to, "please keep the application number close hold."
A follow-up memo on February 28 reported receipt of 68 applications. Noting the competition among more than 1,000 schools last year, the memo said, "Something isn't working." It called on staffers to ask "friendly congressional, gubernatorial and mayoral offices" to encourage schools to apply.
"We should also make sure the Cabinet is pushing the competition out to their lists," the memo said. The note reiterated, "We do not want the actual application number out there (we didn't release the number of applications we received last year until after the submission period)-so folks should not use it in their pitches."
On Monday, officials declined to cite the number of applications received so far.
The president will travel to the school that is judged to best prepare students for college and careers. The competition is part of Mr. Obama's ultimate goal of making the U.S. the country with the highest proportion of college graduates by 2020.
Officials were unable to explain the reason for the apparent lack of interest, beyond pointing to possible procrastination by school systems.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan told CBS Radio News, "It's a huge opportunity for high schools to tell their story." Asked about the lagging application numbers, Duncan said, "Folks are working hard." He called on schools to "put their best foot forward and join the competition."
Education Department press aide Elizabeth Utrup said the deadline was extended "to provide an ample amount of time to reach out to schools from across the country." Utrup added, "Like last year, we anticipate the overwhelming majority will be submitted near the close of the Challenge."
The White House has posted on-line video appeals from President Obama and a student from last year's winning school, Kalamazoo (Michigan) Central High. Entertainers John Legend and Nick Jonas recorded their own videos for the challenge when they were in Washington for a recent "In Performance at the White House" event.
The exact deadline for schools to apply is 11:59P.M., Eastern Time, March 11. More on the application process is posted here.
LOL!
Past (grown-up) Presidents would receive invitations to speak, evaluate how they fit into their schedule and then respond to the invitations.
The man-child Obama has made it into a contest! And his ego is crushed when the game doesn’t make him look good!
= = =
So why the poor response? School administrators would wet their little liberal pants to have Obama speak in their district. I’m guessing that they recognize how devisive Obama is and don’t want their graduation to turn into a political boycott.
How did you get so lucky? /s lol
For example, If he said he bowed to King Saud because he's a Muslim, and America sucks. Or that he clapped his hands and smiled when we got attacked on 9-11. People would appreciate that kind of honesty.
But to have him on stage pretending that He loves America is bull shit, and the kids know it. We all see through it. We all have better things to do than to listen to some Kenyan born jackass bull shit and lie for an hour.
There’s a daycare in our neighborhood...I could ask some 4 year olds to write. Subject: Why are you destroying our future?
Maybe they’d have an improved response if they held a contest for Obama to not speak at the school.
Nobody has less respect for the President than I but please don’t say that.
The COST for assisting the feds with security detail and traffic control would shut down some of these communities. Besides, if the gov’t is so broke, they need to eliminate this kind of fluff.
“Why, then, would sensible people want to be put through the added aggravation of having all the extra security to deal with? Not to mention how having POTUS speak is likely to throw the timing off, and in some towns, multiple schools utilize the same facilities on the same day; timing has to be done carefully or you have a huge mess. In other towns, the venues for graduation are limited and not really large enough and they are jamming people in with a shoehorn to accommodate families; why add to the headaches? “
You bring up a good point. I wonder if the schools are unwilling to pay for it? Or, maybe they didn't have to pay for it last year but this year they do and that's why only 14 have applied.
In any case I love this story. No one wants the "gangster administration" in their halls. Awesome!
Where is the list of those that declined the offer....??
Could someone please post the youtube video “ I Know Jack Schitt”.
I will check what happened in the High School he spoke in Lower Michigan last year. I think it was Kalamazoo, MI.
It was Kalamazoo Central HS, my alma mater. My mother told me that it was quite disruptive locally, and that he wanted them to reschedule the date of their commencement exercises on rather short notice in order to accommodate his schedule. Kazoo has a lot of lefties, so I believe he was generally well received. People like my parents just tried to be gracious with their liberal neighbors and stayed out of the way of the traffic and mess.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/commencement
Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge
Yes it was kalamazoo, Mi High School, 289 graduates. There is a video of a student (black) whom fell asleep during Obama’s graduation speech.
3 Essay Questions...hmmmm...
Why the Obama Economic Policy is a failure.
How the Obama ban on drilling is a security risk for the United States of America.
The difference between a Democracy and a Republic.
I was very happy to note that Reagan spoke at a college commencement at my almamater. If this scum bucket spoke there now, I’d burn my diploma.
....and (c) have enough teachers not demonstrating at state capitals to conduct classes.
I saw clinton speak when my buddy graduated West Point.
Worst speech ever. It was horrible. I would have preferred the town drunk.
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