Back-to-school speech becomes political

Here's the latest exhibit on how polarized the country is and how much distrust exists of President Obama.

He plans what seems like a simple speech to students around the country on Tuesday to encourage them to do well in school.

But some Republicans are objecting to the back-to-school message, asserting that Obama wants to indoctrinate students.

Florida GOP Chairman Jim Greer said in a statement that he is "absolutely appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama's socialist ideology" and "liberal propaganda."

Wednesday, after the White House announced the speech, the Department of Education followed up with a letter to school principals and a lesson plan.

Critics pointed to the part of the lesson plan that originally recommended having students "write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president."

The White House revised the plans Wednesday to say students could "write letters to themselves about how they can achieve their short-term and long-term education goals," the Associated Press reports.

"That was inartfully worded, and we corrected it," White House deputy policy director Heather Higginbottom told the AP.

The White House plans to release a copy of Obama's remarks on Monday, in plenty of time for parents to decide whether they want their kids to hear the speech.

But the AP says that districts across the country have already been inundated with phone calls from parents and that districts in states including Texas, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Virginia, Wisconsin have decided not to show the speech to students. Others are still thinking it over or are letting parents have their kids opt out.