We recently moved into the Bellevue School District in order to ensure that our kids would be able to enjoy its benefits.Now I must say I am extremely disappointed, and embarrassed for our city and school board, as we all just became victims of a few hateful, far-right, blackmailers.Even schools in the deep red South allowed President Obama’s speech on education to be broadcast.

How does this censorship “address all voices”?No other parents – undoubtedly the majority – were asked whether we would approve of showing this speech, a speech not on some contentious “political” issue but on education, delivered to students, those citizens most in need of it, when America has low test scores and high dropout rates.

The far-right media outdid their usual craven whipping up of paranoia by inspiring some people (at least one hopes they were actually parents of Bellevue school children) to threaten to pull school funding if President Obama’s speech regarding education was allowed in our schools.

By “playing it safe,” Bellevue School District has shown it panders to extremists.Censorship not only is un-American but also it does not make anyone “safer.”It also disrespects the President of the United States and displays a shocking disregard for our children.This knee-jerk stance reminds me of the old pro-Vietnam War point of view that “we must destroy the village to save it.”

Bellevue is now backtracking and trying to suggest that teachers can sort of retroactively deconstruct the speech after the fact, but it still will not be shown.Families are advised, discriminatorily, I believe, to watch it on their own time:anyone who does not have access to the Internet (admittedly a minority, but we are talking about ”all voices,” right? ) is out of luck.

So much for “no child left behind.” So much for America.

Sean Bentley, Bellevue (with Kids at Sammamish and Tyee)