President Obama to Address Nation's Students on Wednesday

President Obama will deliver his annual back-to-school address this Wednesday at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School.  The speech will allow the president the opportunity to speak to students not just in the District, but across the nation as well.  This is the third year that the president will make a speech addressing the nation's students.

In a press release, Press Secretary Jay Carney said that in past speeches, the president encouraged students to study hard and take responsibility for their education, and urged them to set goals and be the authors of their own destinies.

Critics of the president's speech took issue with his addresses to students in the past.  In 2009, some parents threatened to remove their children from class during the speech, while others saw it as nothing more than political rhetoric.

This year, Banneker made Newsweek's list of America's Best High Schools.  Ivory Sherman, a 2008 graduate of Banneker, said she is glad to see the President reaching out to public schools.


"Many have said that Obama delivering his back-to-school speech is his way of pushing his political agenda, but I disagree," Sherman said.  "President Obama should be applauded because he is reaching out to future generations, which should be done more often."

One teacher who spoke on conditions of anonymity said that lots of students are anticipating the speech.


"I'd say we're excited to have the president visit, but I think he gets more out of this- an urban public school backdrop- than we get out of it," the teacher commented.  "I think kids will remember he was here and that they saw him, but I doubt he'll encourage kids to stay in school here more than they already do anyway."