The children of Anchorage WILL be allowed to watch the President's speech. Now that is the Alaska that I know and love!

Anchorage public school teachers can have their classes tune in to President Obama's speech Tuesday despite the protest of some local parents that the speech should be blocked from the classroom.

School Superintendent Carol Comeau said Thursday she instructed teachers that if they want, they can air the speech on education and work it into their curriculum, and that parents can opt to not have their children watch.

I would be very surprised if any of the teachers in Anchorage chose not to have their students participate in this opportunity. The teachers that I have met, regardless of their political affiliations, are all about providing access to information and new experiences. They will not cheat the kids out of something as cool as this.

And I pity any children whose close minded parents pull them from class and keep them from being exposed to an intelligent and reasonable President for the first time in some of their young lives. Let's face it, for many of the grade school kids especially they have only been exposed to George W. Bush and now Obama. Who would you rather they hear an address from?

I am also happy to hear that the teachers in the Valley will be able to decide for themselves as well.

Mat-Su school district spokeswoman Catherine Esary said the Valley district was leaving it up to teachers and schools to decide to watch it or not. Alaska Department of Education spokesman Eric Fry said his non-partisan state agency was also taking a hands-off approach, leaving it up to districts, as it does most decisions.

I know that we have come to believe that the Valley is full of misplaced hillbillies and anti-government survivalists thanks to the example of Sarah Palin, but I know there are many very intelligent and reasonable people also living out there. I would also be surprised if any of those teachers chose to skip the President's address as well.

I would be less surprised to find that more parents kept their children home however, but perhaps that is my own prejudice making that assumption.

Anyhow the speech will be released on Monday, so I will link to it so that people can read the whole thing for themselves. Hopefully if anybody has any doubt of the content or it's purpose they will take the time to at least read it before making a rash decision concerning their child's education.

And did I tell you how proud of my city I am right now? Well too bad, I am telling you again!