Having read the transcript of President’s Obama’s education speech delivered at Wakefield High School in Virginia, I think he should be congratulated for doing what many parents don’t; telling their kids to “buck up their ideas.”

As for the much reported furore over the address, I think Walter Mears is on point with his observation that:

“...the people who protested the Obama speech before they knew what was in it would have realized there is nothing unusual about a president appearing at a public school as the classroom year begins. The previous three Republicans have and there wasn't any stir...”

What the American president said was simply that kids should turn up to school, listen to the teachers, listen to their elders and work hard. Commonsense, one would have thought. Especially in light of the fact that the OCED Annual Education paper – published on the day of President Obama’s address, says that investing in education is the best route out of the recession.

Obama’s speech is seemingly designed to protect the position of the US as the OECD country where male graduates have the highest gross earnings premium over their non-graduate counterparts of $367,000 extra over their lifetime. However, with the high school drop-out in rate America at an all-time high of 30 per cent, that could be under threat.

In the US, just over 40 per cent of adults aged between 25 and 34 have attained tertiary education, putting America in tenth place, ranked behind Canada, Korea and Japan at the top, which all have over 50 per cent of their adult populations aged 25 to 34 gaining a university education.

When the OECD report highlights the financial benefits to economies of producing graduates - an average net public return of $82,000 for a male, compared with a $42,000 average net public return on a male with secondary education, Obama’s speech is not only practical, but essential in helping the country of the current economic crisis.

In his address he aimed to inspire his young audience by telling them that everyone has something to offer and school would help them identify what that was. Far from being condescending or insincere, the president said that he understood what it was like to come from a challenging background:

“My father left my mother when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother...,” he said. Adding that this was “no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school”.

As a lecturer I see nothing wrong in President Obama spelling out that pupils have a responsibility for their education, just as teachers and governments do. You can have the greatest teachers providing the highest level of teaching but if pupils are disinterested in learning then there is little you can do. You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.

So President Obama gets a thumbs up from me for his education address, and as for his critics, I tend to share Walter Mear’s view that “it was an inflated and invented controversy.”

Related Links

Analysis: Obama foes contrived back-to-school fuss
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i7oKuqDzWAcFn9NcExXfur9O4wKgD9AJLBVO0

OECD Annual Education Paper 2009-09-09
http://www.oecd.org/document/48/0,3343,en_2649_37455_43626864_1_1_1_1,00.html

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