Okay! I have located the missing Obama web pages and the policy that was deleted. It is here:
http://versionista.com/diff/ibDjuZFzAZv2WvoBhXQncQ-edits/?showscript Here is the text. Part of it was deleted and replaced. I just copied it here, with the deletion marked with a strikeout line. Let me put it in square brackets as well, in case the strikeout does not survive: "Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by [developing a plan to require 50 hours of community service in middle school and high school and 100 hours of community service in college every year. Obama] setting a goal that all middle school and high school students do 50 hours of community service a year and by developing a plan so that all college students who conduct 100 hours of community service receive a universal and fully refundable tax credit ensuring that the first $4,000 of their college education is completely free." Okay, there we have it. He is talking about middle school and high school kids. Such community service requirements are widespread in the U.S., and have been for a long time. I have never heard of one that you cannot get out of with a note from the parents, just as you can get out of sex education or school trips. The school always send home a note asking the parent's permission. The activity never counts toward graduation. (There is no penalty if you give it a miss.) This is not controversial or surprising to anyone who has had kids in public school anytime in the last 30 years. I do not know about private schools, but public schools either strongly recommend public service stints of this nature, or they make it an obligation subject to the parent's approval. To get riled up about a thing like this, or to call it "slavery," is the height of childish, ignorant, over-reaction. If your kids ask to be excused from this sort of thing, I recommend you tell them they have to do it. I never saw a kid who didn't want to do it, or who did not benefit from it. - Jed
