Foter.com
The interim principal of a primary school in Elwood, New York sent a letter home to students informing parents the Kindergarten play scheduled for May would be cancelled, because of "the demands of the 21st century," saying the reason the show was cancelled was because the school was "responsible for preparing children for career and college with valuable skills."
I'm no education specialist, but I don't think I need an Ed.D. to understand that putting on a show in Kindergarten actually does prepare children with valuable skills; public speaking, teamwork, thinking creatively, etc.
Thanking Obama for this one would not be much of a stretch. From the Washington Post:
This didn't come out of the blue. Kindergarten (and even preschool) has increasingly become academic — at the expense of things such as recess and the arts — in this era of standardized test-based school reform. In most states, educators are evaluated in large part on test scores of students (sometimes students they don't have) and on showing that their students are "college and career ready," the mantra of the Obama administration's education initiatives.
The Post was able to confirm the authenticity of the letter, which they've posted, but could not get anyone to comment on the record about it other than a spokesperson telling them there was nothing to add.
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