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The furor around President Obama’s Back-to-School speech among some Republicans and conservatives was mostly neutralized after it was apparent that motivation to stay in school was the primary message. It stayed firmly in the tradition set by Presidents Reagan and George H. W. Bush who also addressed students with the message of responsibility and academic achievement. But the real controversies around the messaging that school-age students are exposed to is rarely a flash point for conservative parents. Airing on TV stations the same day as President Obama’s speech was a documentary called Get Schooled funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and sponsored by Viacom. The troubling aspects of the program, according to education researcher Kenneth Libby, are “disturbing subtle messages about gender, power, celebrity, and the role of education in a democratic society [which] should give the public pause for concern.” It also upholds mayor-controlled school districts in Chicago and New York as models, despite their poor performance, and encourages students to join the US Army.

GUEST: Kenneth Libby, education researcher, teacher, and blogger from Portland, Oregon.

Read Kenneth Libby’s blog at http://www.schoolsmatter.blogspot.com/