Education secretary defends school speech

Education Secretary Arne Duncan defended President Barack Obama’s plan to speak to public-school students this week, saying it would be worth it even if it improves just one student’s grades.

“This is all about the president challenging our young people to take responsibility for their education,” Duncan said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

{mosads}The speech has been criticized by conservative parents worried that the president would talk politics with their children. But Duncan dismissed any suggestion that would happen.

The 18-minute speech will be posted by the White House on the Internet Monday for parents to look at. Whether students watch it or not will be voluntary, Duncan said.

Duncan noted that students have heard from a president before, when President George H.W. Bush spoke to them in 1991.

“The real question I have is, why has it been 18 years since a president has addressed our nation’s youth?” Duncan said.

Critics had pointed to a suggestion from teachers working with the Obama administration that the students write a letter saying how they could help the president achieve his goal of improving the college graduate rate. Duncan said that students will instead be asked to write a letter about their own goals.

When asked whether Obama would cancel the speech, Duncan said, “No, sir.”

House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said the speech would be good if it’s entirely parent-oriented. Gingrich noted that President Ronald Reagan had sought to inspire students with speeches, too.

“If the president gives a speech as a president to students to encourage them to learn and stay in school, it’s a good thing,” Gingrich said on “Fox News Sunday.”