By this point everyone has weighed in on President Obama's speech to America's students (the Fordham team included; see????here, here, here, here, here, here, and here). The pre-speech drama included some worthwhile questions (When is it ok for presidents to talk to captive audiences of students? What content should be off limits?), some administration mistakes (those lesson plans), and some way over-heated rhetoric ("socialist indoctrination").
When all was said and done, though, what mattered most was the speech itself, and that proved to be a success. I thought it deserved an A overall, and the second half warrants an A+. I'm all for adults--presidents included--telling students to set big goals, work very hard, take responsibility, not give up, and not make excuses. This message seems to resonate with most grownups and hopefully many kids (indeed, it's at the heart of some of America's very best urban schools and a few wildly popular current books).