They're not offended by the President wanting to talk to the children of this Nation. Any "offense" is a product of a kind of sticker shock as a result of recent political changes. Conservatives controlled the Congress for 12 years until 2007 and also the White house for the last 8 years of that 12 until. In the course of two short years though, Conservatives lost control of both the Congress and the WH. Conservatives haven't figured out how or why. Then you have to acknowledge the role that the recession has played in all this and the fact that we elected a black President. For some people it's all just too much. Of course, you then have people who find solace in talk show hosts such as Hannity and Glen Beck plying their listeners with the tonic that Obama is an aberration or that Obama is an illegitimate President or that the Nation is on the road to socialism. Feeling rather powerless to stop it all, some people choose something to rant and rave about that they are familar with such as public schools. The foregoing plays a large part in any objections.