University Place School District Superintendent Patti Banks met with her district’s principals soon after hearing from the U.S. Department of Education that the speech was planned.

“We discussed the president’s desire to speak directly to the nation’s schoolchildren about working hard, setting goals and the value of education,” she said. “Those are values we support.”

But after hearing questions and complaints from parents – including a few who said they would keep their kids at home if the president’s speech was shown at school – she directed teachers and principals to honor the requests of parents who do not want their students to watch the speech and to allow those students to opt out.

I have a really hard time with the idea of shielding students from their President. I think George Orwell put it pretty well in the title of his essay, “My Country Right or Left.” Whether it’s George W. Bush or Barack H. Obama, I think the President should be able to get 20 minutes to talk to school kids.

I didn’t vote for George W. Bush, but he was still my president. I watched a fair number of his prime time address and I watched his State of the Union speeches. And yes, I understand that students are “captive audiences” so it’s a little more delicate than that. But if I had a student in class, and George W. Bush had wanted to talk to them about the importance of working hard and staying in school … I just don’t see the problem.

According to the Tribune article, some schools will review the article to see if it “enhances educational goals.” I can’t imagine how it wouldn’t. I remember watching the Clinton inauguration in middle school. I barely knew who Clinton was (I was 12) but the significance and importance of an inauguration struck me. And I actually still remember listening to him say the oath. Seeing a little bit of “civics in action” can make the study of the three branches of government a lot more interesting.

I understand that the schools are treading carefully here, so I’m not questioning that. But I am curious how parents really don’t want their kids watching the speech. I wonder if we’ll hear any numbers on how many kids were excused.