School cancels controversial field trip to Bush speech. from Think Progress

 by Amanda Terkel http://thinkprogress.org/2009/09/14/bush-trip-cancel/

 Last week, the Arlington Independent School District in Texas decided not to show President Obama's address to students because it reportedly didn't want to interrupt its regularly scheduled lesson plans. However, the district did determine that it would be worthwhile to bus 600 fifth-graders off-campuson Sept. 21 to hear President Bush speak. After facing criticism for having a "blatant double standard," the school district has canceled the Bush field trip:

On Monday morning, [Arlington Superintendent Jerry] McCullough announced that he has changed his mind about allowing students to attend the Super Bowl event, which he said has become a "local and national issue and a distraction for the AISD."

"I have informed the North Texas Super Bowl XLV host committee that the AISD will not participate in the kickoff event on Sept. 21 in order to maintain our focus on instruction," McCullough wrote.

Last week, McCullough issued an apology for his actions, saying, "In retrospect, I can see how the district's decisions concerning these two events could be seen as favoring one event over another." (HT: TP Reader Gary)