![]() Still, she's curious about how that family celebrates the Jewish holiday Shabbas and is surprised to learn that they completely abstain from using any electricity for an entire day. She also sets Buster straight on why she eats things like cheeseburgers, explaining that the family Buster is visiting practices strict Orthodox Judaism, while her family practices a more relaxed form. Francine is a bit embarrassed when she finds out about this because she knows plenty of Hebrew and is largely up-to-date on her Jewish traditions. As a girl named Mattie helps him to learn about Hebrew and Jewish traditions, he urges her to go slow, worried that Francine might be way behind. He learns about high-rising apartments and rising taxis, but also learns that aside from prayer services, the school that his new friends attend is a lot like his own. Buster meets up with a Jewish family who he hopes can be a big help, since Francine is Jewish. When a magazine quiz helps Francine discover that her lifestyle is perfect for the hustle and bustle of New York, she asks Buster to get her as much information as he can when he pays a visit there. ![]() The Postcards from Buster episodes shown were: At the end of the special, a secret password for a new game at the official PBSKids Arthur website was revealed. ![]() This special featured interstitial postcard segments from Buster, segments with kids from the show Zoom and a small additional factoid regarding Arthur and Buster. Third, in the interest of avoiding embroiling the Ready-To-Learn program in a controversy that will only hurt the program, we believe you should strongly consider refunding to the Department the Federal education funds that were used for the episode.įinally, you can be assured that in the future the Department will be more clear as to its expectations for any future programming that it funds.Aired on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 2005, this two-hour special featured several Arthur stories and two complete episodes of Postcards from Buster. Second, we request that you notify your member stations of the nature of the content of these programs and ask that they review the programs before deciding whether to air them. First, if you air the show, we must insist that you remove from the specific episode the Department’s seal, as well as any other logo or statement indicating that the Department funded, endorsed, sponsored or was involved in the development, creation, or production of the episode, and, in addition, that you also remove any such reference in any materials about the program. In light of these concerns, we have several requests. Congress’ and the Department’s purpose in funding this programming certainly was not to introduce this kind of subject matter to children, particularly through the powerful and intimate medium of television. Many parents would not want their young children exposed to the life-styles portrayed in this episode. We believe the “Sugartime!” episode does not come within these purposes or within the intent of Congress, and would undermine the overall objective of the Ready-To-Learn program - to produce programming that reaches as many children and families as possible. The television programs that must fulfill this mission are to be specifically designed for this purpose, with the highest attention to production quality and validity of research-based educational objectives, content, and materials.” In addition, you should also know that two years ago the Senate Appropriations Committee raised questions about the accountability of funds appropriated for Ready-To-Learn programs. 108-792 at 1236-1237 (2004)), Congress reiterated the unique mission of Ready-To-Learn, which is “to use the television medium to help prepare preschool age children for school. In the fiscal year 2005 appropriations conference report (H. A principal focus of the law authorizing funding for the Ready-To-Learn program is facilitating student academic achievement. The episode - “Sugartime!” - is part of the “Postcards from Buster” series, and would feature throughout the show families headed by gay couples.Īs you know, the cooperative agreement that PBS is using to support these programs is designed to prepare preschool and elementary age children for school. The Department of Education has strong and very serious concerns about a specific Ready-To-Learn television episode, yet to be aired, that has been developed under a cooperative agreement between the Department and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). In the episode, Buster visits a Vermont family that has two moms. Bush’s administration, complained to PBS in 2005 about an episode of the animated Postcards from Buster children’s series with funding from her department. Margaret Spellings, secretary of education in George W.
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