Although the Obama administration is less than 3 months old, the school board of St. Paul is considering renaming one of its schools to honor the new president.
It won’t be the first.
Less than three weeks after Barack Obama was elected, education officials in Hempstead, N.Y., on Long Island, changed the name of the Charles Ludlum Elementary School to Barack Obama Elementary School. Then came two Barack Obama Academies — one in Plainfield, N.J., in February, and the other in Oakland in March.
St. Paul is apparently the first city to consider honoring the first lady as well as her husband.
Over the next few weeks, students, families, staff and community members of the Webster Magnet Elementary School will vote on two new names: Barack and Michelle Obama Service Learning Elementary School or Webster Service Learning Elementary School. The school board is expected to decide in May.
Such moves to memorialize politicians in midcareer can sometimes backfire, however.
In 1970, a new school in Hiawatha, Iowa, was christened the Richard M. Nixon Elementary School. After Nixon resigned the presidency in disgrace in 1974, a local pastor led an unsuccessful effort to have the school renamed for Abraham Lincoln. Today, it’s still known as Nixon Elementary School. But the school makes no mention on its Web site or outdoor signage about Nixon’s presidency.