PITTSBURGH -- Tuesday was the day President Barack Obama chose to welcome America's school children back to class.

The president planned a 20-minute speech about the need to work hard and stay in school that districts could choose to stream into their classrooms.

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Read The Speech: Click here for full text of Obama's speech to students

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Along with encouraging students to decide their own destinies, the president also told listeners there's "no excuse for not trying."

The president also told students to take care of themselves, so they could be "ready to learn." Obama also encouraged school children to wash their hands and stay home from school when they're not feeling well to help prevent the spread of the flu.

But not every student will hear his message.

Some local school districts have decided not to show the live broadcast of Obama's speech, partly in response to concerns from parents and a surprising push-back from critics who battered the White House over health care and now accuse Obama of foisting a political agenda on kids.

Rebecca Donadee, whose child attends school in the North Allegheny district, where the speech wasn't shown, wanted her third-grader to see the speech in school.

"I'm extremely disappointed in the school district, especially because they made the decision before they had all the facts. I know the full speech was released yesterday, it just seemed like sort of a snap decision," Donadee said.

She says local politicians have come to the school in the past to give speeches.

"It just seems like a double standard to me that a local politician is allowed to come in and speak to the children but the nation's president isn't given the same right," Donadee said.

For some of the students who saw the speech, the president's pep talk left an impression.

"You have to read books. Like, if you have nothing to do, you should read books so you can like learn from the books," said fifth-grader Destiny Macklin.

"When he talked about bullying, because sometimes I get bullied. And when he was talking about the school supplies and stuff because Pittsburgh Public Schools are getting low, getting low down with school supplies and stuff like that," said another fifth-grade student, Edesha Terry.

The Penn-Trafford and Plum Borough school districts told Channel 4 Action News they will tape Obama's speech and let teachers decide whether to show it.

In Plum, notes were sent home and parents had to authorize whether their children could watch the speech.

The McKeesport Area School District said it will show the speech after school hours in the high school auditorium.

Pittsburgh Public Schools will allow Obama's speech to be shown live, while leaving it up to individual schools how they want to handle it at each campus.

The principal at Fulton Academy in the Pittsburgh School district said students in school have watched other speeches by other presidents in the past.

"President (H.W.) Bush gave a speech. Now, I'm a Republican, and so I definitely wanted them to watch that. And so even with Barack Obama coming in, I want my students to be able to say, 'I heard from the president, that he's asking me to stay in school, get good grades and listen to my parents.' I see nothing wrong with that message," said Fulton Academy Principal Kevin Bivens.

All students in the Wilkinsburg School District saw the speech on Tuesday.

In the West Jefferson Hills School District, the school will review the speech and then decide whether to show it in class.

The Moon School planned to show the speech to students.

Officials in Upper St. Clair said they will tape the speech, review it, and then decide if it fits into the district's curriculum.

"I think we've reached a little bit of the silly season when the president of the United States can't tell kids in school to study hard and stay in school," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters in Washington on Friday. "I think both political parties agree that the dropout rate is something that threatens our long-term economic success."

Gibbs said the speech by the Democrat Obama will not be partisan but rather a chance for children to get "a little encouragement as they start the school year."

Republican President George H.W. Bush delivered a similar speech to students in 1991, and Republican President Ronald Reagan addressed U.S. children directly after the Challenger space shuttle exploded in 1986.

"I think it's wonderful," parent Maribeth Coker said. "I've never seen a president talk directly to our children, and I think it's a great opportunity for the children to hear him directly."

"I think it's the best thing we could do for our children," parent Kathleen Payne said. "I think that our children should stay in school. I think that we need to do everything we can to keep them here so they have brighter futures than they have without it."

A spokeswoman for Pittsburgh Public Schools said the district has received one call opposing the decision to show the speech.

A McKeesport Area School District spokesman said the district hasn't received negative feedback from parents.

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