To the Editor:

Last Friday, Region 17 parents were offered the option of taking their children out of school programs planned around President Obama's address to the nation's students on the importance of education. I am sad to think that any parent would act on this offer.

The president is the leader of our country--our whole country, not just the 53 percent of voters who voted for him. He is our commander-in-chief. He reminded us on the night he was elected that "we rise or fall as one nation; as one people," and his talk on Tuesday is a way of teaching our students that they are indeed all part of one country. Those who cannot see beyond the president's political party or their disagreements with his policies undermine the very foundation of our democracy.

One of the most vital missions of our schools is to teach our children how to listen respectfully to those they disagree with and to engage in reasoned and open-minded discussion with their fellow citizens. As I understand Gary Mala's letter, the president's speech is to be used as a "teachable moment" for just that purpose.

It is an opportunity for a vivid civics lesson that all of our students--whatever the political persuasion of their family--desperately need.

We must not give in to the corrosive idea that partisan politics divides us from each other. Debate about our lives together is what politics should be. Even when we disagree, politics should unite us, not divide us.

Catherine Iino