In his film, Moore attacks the president for listening to Sarasota second-graders read a story for nearly seven minutes after learning the second Twin Tower had been hit by a jet.

Tose'-Rigell fired back, saying that instead of panicking the country and needlessly upsetting the children, the president did the right thing.

"I don't think anyone could have handled it better," she told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune in a story published Wednesday. "What would it have served if he had jumped out of his chair and ran out of the room?"

Bush told the 9/11 Commission that he remained in the classroom because he felt it was "important to project strength and calm until he could better understand what was happening."

In his film, Moore says Bush failed to take charge.

Tose'-Rigell, who was at Bush's side, said she did not hear what White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card whispered to the president, but "I knew it was something serious."

"The president bit his lip and clenched his jaw," she said. "I didn't know what happened, whether it was something with his wife or children or something with the nation. I remember praying that God would watch over our school and protect our children."

Bush's presence, she said, had a calming effect and "helped us get through a very difficult day."

She told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune she didn't vote for Bush in 2000. "But that day I would have voted for him."