Barack Obama's campaign organization is in hot water with Joel Klein, the NYC School's Chancellor, after it produced a short film (it runs about 13 minutes) starring Bronx public high school students and teachers discussing race issues and Obama's campaign. The video was distributed online to generate revenue for the candidate's campaign and the page where the video is located features a prominent "DONATE NOW" button.
The teacher prominently featured in the film is Jackson Shafer, and he defended the experience as an educational opportunity that got some of his students interested in politics. Dept. of Education regulations prohibit students from being filmed for promotional or political purposes inside school facilities. The Dept. is currently evaluating whether disciplinary action should be taken against school administrators and whether it would request the video be removed.
Jen Psaki, the spokeswoman for the Obama campaign, was unapologetic about the incident, calling it a positive experience for the kids and that no one associated with the production was aware that they were in violation of any rules. The campaign also declined to remove the video from its web site.
