国际英语新闻：Obama calls for hard work in back-to-school speech

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama will urge Americans students to work hard in a to-be-released speech to mark the first school day after the summer break, which falls on Tuesday, the White House said Monday.

    "No matter what you want to do with your life, I guarantee that you'll need an education to do it," the president says, according to a transcript of the speech released by the White House.

    "This isn't just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country," he is expected to say.

    The White House pre-released the text after the planned speech stirred a controversy around the country.

    Many conservatives have expressed a fear that the address would be used to push a partisan political agenda.

    Obama avoids any mention of controversial political initiatives, according to the transcript.

    On Sunday, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said that parents who are threatening to keep their children home Tuesday to avoid Obama's speech were being "silly."

    U.S. presidents rarely address students nationwide, but Duncan noted Obama's speech is not uNPRecedented.

    Then President George H.W. Bush delivered a nationally televised speech to students from a Washington school in fall 1991.

    In November 1988, then president Ronald Reagan delivered more politically charged remarks that were made available to students nationwide.

    The White House plans to live-broadcast Obama's speech via Internet Tuesday.

    Some schools have decided to show Obama's speech to students, but others will not.