Obama kids: Public or Private School?

[Kiwon]

Predict whether the Obama kids will attend a public or a private school in Washington, D.C.

There is great hope that the children of President Obama will attend public school, especially given his background in education as a community organizer in Chicago.

Will Obama really show himself as a man of the people or will he go the private school route like almost all privileged politicians do?

It would be a huge boost to the image of public schools and more consistent with his call for massive public educational funding if he would entrust his daughters' education to the public school system.

[sheepshead]

I know it's early, but thus far he hasnt shown he's about to do anything other than appoint partisan hacks and old Clinton era hangers on. I doubt he uses his daughters as an example here.

[Deputy Nutz]

Obama needs to do what is in the best interest of his children. Where ever those kids are the safest is where he should send them.

He is not a hypocrite if he fights to better public schools, but still wants to do what he and his wife think are the best thing for the children.

[hoosier]

Obama needs to do what is in the best interest of his children. Where ever those kids are the safest is where he should send them.

He is not a hypocrite if he fights to better public schools, but still wants to do what he and his wife think are the best thing for the children.

Well said. And nobody, but nobody, who can afford private schooling sends their kids to public school in DC.

[packinpatland]

I know it's early, but thus far he hasnt shown he's about to do anything other than appoint partisan hacks and old Clinton era hangers on. I doubt he uses his daughters as an example here.


Nobody should be made to feel that they need to 'use' their children as an example.
Send them to private schools, that's where they already are, and 'use' the presidency to fight to make the DC schools better.

[sheepshead]

Good point, public schools in Chicago are much worse. (of course we couldn't talk about those things during the campaign)

[hoosier]

Good point, public schools in Chicago are much worse. (of course we couldn't talk about those things during the campaign)

Why not? Were you too busy posting youtube links?

[packinpatland]

Actually, the Chicago schools have shown improvement for seven consecutive years.
http://egov.cityofchicago.org/city/webportal/portalContentItemAction.do?displayBack=null&contenTypeName=COC_EDITORIAL&context=Recent+News&topChannelName=HomePage&contentOID=537010756

Not to say there probably isn't room for alot more improvement.....as is the case with most public schools.

[SkinBasket]

Hmmm... the past 7 years hey? It's almost like that might correlate to something... Nah. Must be a coincidence.

[Zool]

Hmmm... the past 7 years hey? It's almost like that might correlate to something... Nah. Must be a coincidence.

I guess no child left behind worked in Chicago but everyone else flopped.

[bobblehead]

xx

[Harlan Huckleby]

Why would ANY rich person send their kids to public schools? There are bound to be superior private schools, nothing wrong with this.


Not that Obama isn't a big fake. The major piece of legislation that he touted on his website last winter was Campaign Finance Reform. And When he found himself in a position where CFR was a financial disadvantage, he gave a sober policy speech saying he had to abandon CFR now for the good of the country. CFR became fatally flawed, part of the corrupt past that he intends to sweep away.

The same Obama worshippers who gave him a pass on this gross duplicity called Palin a "liar" and "stupid" for suggesting that OBama never authored any serious legislation, an arguably true point.

Sorry, do I sound bitter? I am not against Obama by any means. God speed in his efforts to take Wist and MrAynRand's money and buy me health insurance! But the army of mindless warriors for Obama who trashed Clinton and McCain in the name of the Messiah are forever on my shit list.

[hoosier]

1. Hillary Clinton is nothing but a scheming opportunist. She took one real risk in her political life, got burned for it, and decided that from then her way would be whichever way the wind is blowing.

2. McCain ceased to be a "maverick" back in 2000 and became a tool of the far right. Plus he's dull and repetitive when he's not yelling at kids to get off his lawn.

3. Blessed be Obama, for Obama is great.

[swede]

Of course Obama should send his children to a private school.

Public schooling is an endeavor of the middle class entirely built upon the values of the middle class. Public schools are not good tools for addressing the poverty culture, and poverty culture has no respect for middle class values. Indeed, middle class values would be of no use to any of us if we were trying to survive within the poverty culture. Leaving poverty culture behind requires sacrificing relationships, and it is difficult to get children to reject the values of their peers and caretakers in order to attain the stability of middle class.

Obama's children belong to an elite class of citizenry and would adjust poorly to any public school. The elite class strives for advantage and sustained economic success. Middle class values of hard work and honesty are pretty ideas but not as important as results. Good private schools lead to good colleges which lead to privileged social and economic access.

It is what it is.

[packinpatland]

Of course Obama should send his children to a private school.

Public schooling is an endeavor of the middle class entirely built upon the values of the middle class. Public schools are not good tools for addressing the poverty culture, and poverty culture has no respect for middle class values. Indeed, middle class values would be of no use to any of us if we were trying to survive within the poverty culture. Leaving poverty culture behind requires sacrificing relationships, and it is difficult to get children to reject the values of their peers and caretakers in order to attain the stability of middle class.

Obama's children belong to an elite class of citizenry and would adjust poorly to any public school. The elite class strives for advantage and sustained economic success. Middle class values of hard work and honesty are pretty ideas but not as important as results. Good private schools lead to good colleges which lead to privileged social and economic access.

It is what it is.


You just can't make sweeping statements like that. How do you know that the Obama children would adjust poorly to a public school? You don't... any more than after 12 years of a public school system, my daughter couldn't adjust to Ivy League.
'values of hard work and honesty' aren't just pretty ideas, and are not germane to the middle class.

[sheepshead]

Obama's Private School Shoppping Goes Public
By Clarence Page

Parenting humbles any of us who try it -- even new residents of the White House.

Choosing a new puppy? Ha! The Obamas face a much tougher public relations dilemma: Are they willing to put their school-aged daughters where daddy's political promises have been?

The education world is waiting to see whether Sasha, 7, and Malia, 10, will be sent to private school while their father continues to oppose tax-supported programs that offer a similar choice to less-fortunate parents.

The question of vouchers as an alternative to public schools crosses color lines, but it is particularly appropriate for the nation's first African American president.

Black students disproportionately find themselves in under-performing schools. In fact, opinion polls by think tanks like the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies have found black parents favor vouchers by larger majorities than white parents do.

Yet teachers unions lead opposition to such alternatives, even though studies like a 2004 Thomas B. Fordham Institute report find big city public school teachers to be more likely than the general population they serve to have their own children in private schools.

In Obama's hometown, Chicago, for example, 38.7 percent of public school teachers sent their children to private schools, the Fordham study found, compared to 22.6 percent of the general public.

In Washington, D.C., 26.8 percent of public school teachers sent their children to private schools, versus 19.8 percent of the public.

A voucher program Congress imposed on the District in 2004, which granted $7,500 a year for 1,903 students, emerged as an issue in Obama's third televised debate with Sen. John McCain.

McCain said the District's Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee supported vouchers. Obama argued that she didn't. Instead, Obama said, she supports publicly funded, privately run charter schools. "I doubled the number of charter schools in Illinois," Obama pointed out, "despite some reservations from teachers unions."

Actually, McCain was right, inasmuch as Rhee has favored "choice," although she's lukewarm at best on the voucher issue. "I would never, as long as I am in this role, do anything to limit another parent's ability to make a choice for their child," she told the Wall Street Journal this year. "Ever."

But after the debate, a spokesman said the chancellor, along with Mayor Adrian Fenty, "disagrees with the notion that vouchers are the remedy for repairing the city's school system."

That's true. No single remedy can fix challenges as complex as those posed by public education. Every child learns differently. But Rhee's defense of "choice" offers the right direction. Any program that expands educational choices also opens opportunities for more kids who don't have enough chances to move up the ladder to a better life -- maybe even to the White House.

As a parent who reluctantly moved my own child to private school after the fifth grade, I appreciate the value of school choice. But what about the kids left behind in failing schools?

Michelle Obama offered a clue to what her family's choice will be. She flew to Washington this week (Monday, Nov. 10) ahead of her husband and toured the private Georgetown Day School. Another clue: Their daughters currently attend a private school in Chicago.

Private school also was the choice of Bill and Hillary Clinton for their daughter Chelsea. The most recent presidential child to attend a District of Columbia public school was President Jimmy Carter's daughter, Amy, in the late 1970s.

Chancellor Rhee, by contrast, is a 38-year-old single Korean-American mother with two young daughters in her troubled 46,000-student system. With the backing of Mayor Fenty, she has closed 23 schools, restructured 27 others, fired more than 250 teachers and dumped about one-third of the system's principals. Still there's more work to be done.

She recently put the critical question to a principal who was defending a teacher, according to Washington Post columnist Fred Hiatt: "Would you put your grandchild in that class?"

"If that's the standard," the principal replied, "we don't have any effective teachers in my school."

Rhee's response: "That is the standard."

The public schools belong to all of us, whether we use them or not. We should treat the students as though they belong to all of us, too.
Page is a Pulitzer Prize-winning syndicated columnist specializing in urban issues. He is based in Washington, D.C. E-mail: cptime@aol.com

[sheepshead]

1. Hillary Clinton is nothing but a scheming opportunist. She took one real risk in her political life, got burned for it, and decided that from then her way would be whichever way the wind is blowing.

2. McCain ceased to be a "maverick" back in 2000 and became a tool of the far right. Plus he's dull and repetitive when he's not yelling at kids to get off his lawn.

3. Blessed be Obama, for Obama is great.


Just for you!!!

Enjoy!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BtJG0BonMQ&eurl=http://www.exposeobama.com/

[packinpatland]

1. Hillary Clinton is nothing but a scheming opportunist. She took one real risk in her political life, got burned for it, and decided that from then her way would be whichever way the wind is blowing.

2. McCain ceased to be a "maverick" back in 2000 and became a tool of the far right. Plus he's dull and repetitive when he's not yelling at kids to get off his lawn.

3. Blessed be Obama, for Obama is great.


Just for you!!!

Enjoy!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BtJG0BonMQ&eurl=http://www.exposeobama.com/

That was fun.....but she's no Sarah Silverman. :lol:

[swede]

You just can't make sweeping statements like that. How do you know that the Obama children would adjust poorly to a public school? You don't... any more than after 12 years of a public school system, my daughter couldn't adjust to Ivy League.
'values of hard work and honesty' aren't just pretty ideas, and are not germane to the middle class.

Your daughter, I presume, wasn't raised in the culture of the wealthy, but was raised to respect the ideals of hard work and honesty. Ivy league colleges are filled with students who made it there by the fruits of their own hard work and perseverance. They are also home to students who pass chemistry class after their parents endow the new science wing.

Hard work and honesty mean a great deal to me. Honesty means less to a person like Obama who pledges public funding until something better came along. He didn't hold himself to his word because there was no personal benefit in doing so.

The Obama children are no doubt bright enough to excel in a public school. But public schools are too egalitarian for cultural elites like the Obamas. It's not so much that they couldn't fit in. It's that they wouldn't want to fit in with the common sorts.

I am led to believe by the contents of all your posts that your family, though you may be well off, is solidly grounded in middle class ideals. If you could write a hundred thousand dollar check and get your daughter past a difficult course would you do it? I'll bet not. You don't seem the type. The Obamas do.

[packinpatland]

"I am led to believe by the contents of all your posts that your family, though you may be well off, is solidly grounded in middle class ideals. If you could write a hundred thousand dollar check and get your daughter past a difficult course would you do it? I'll bet not. You don't seem the type. The Obamas do."

First of all.......thank you. But truth be known, my husband I and did not come from the middle class.........we were a bit south of that.
Your question. Would I write a check? Yes. I would write that check for additional tutoring, for that softball or field hockey clinic, for a science camp. Whatever it would take to help them have an edge. Would I write a check that was meant as a 'bribe'? No.
Based on what I've read about the Obamas personal history, I don't think they would either.

[Kiwon]

I think Jimmy Carter was a terrible president with a warped ideology,........but at least he was fairly consistent to his ideals. I respected that about him.

His daughter, Amy Carter, went to public school.

Security? Apparently, not a problem. There had been two assassination attempts on President Ford's life previous to that point and the Carters did not let that stop them from sending Amy to a school 6 blocks from the White House.

Having the Obama kids in a Washington, D.C. public school would instill a lot of pride in the teachers and students there which is exactly what the overwhelmingly African-American population needs and which frankly Obama's profile as the nation's first "Black" President can help to inspire.

The kids are going to get a good education no matter where they go to school. There are apparently several good, public schools in D.C. and they will have access to the best private tutors and extra-curricular programs there are.

All the presidents talk about education reform, but Obama is in position to actually make an intangible difference which will have lasting effects - he can inspire millions of African-American kids in ways that others never could. That's just a fact.

He committed himself to a publicly financed campaign and then completely broke that promise (and all campaign fundraising records) by reversing himself. “Change” gave way to the status quo.

Trillions of dollars has been poured into public education since the first "Great Society" with diminishing returns. If public education is really a priority and is improving through federal government support then it would be very refreshing to see a politician, and in this case, a president, that walks the talk.

[packinpatland]

Where would you send your kids, Kiwon?

[HowardRoark]

I send mine to parochial schools. I think the best thing we can do for black children in this country is vouchers.

Take this thread and replace the words "public schools" with "universal healthcare" and we can have our own little time machine.

[MJZiggy]

First things first. The DC school system is worse than pitiful. It is close to being classified a total failure. Obama is not even in office yet and his girls will be in school before he takes that oath, so to suggest that he should put his daughters there before he's even had a chance to address the issue is a little nuts.

Then you have to consider that a school system is on a local level. While Obama can set policy, etc. it is up to the localities to execute. As it stands at the moment, the DC public school system is Mayor Fenty's problem. No president can or should be expected to be up to date on how each city's schools are performing. He can only look at this problem globally, assess the programs that are in place, and go from there. In the meantime, those girls should be someplace like Sidwell and not in our abomination of a school system. Now if they lived in Maryland, this wouldn't be an issue, but you can't beat the free rent for the place he's moving into. Furnished and everything.

[packinpatland]

In one of her many 'exclusive' interviews recently, Gov. Palin was asked about running again, she replied that if it was were good for her family, her state and the nation......
She put her family first. As she should.
The Carters were wrong.
The Obamas are parents first, they need to do the right, and the best thing for their daughters.

[MJZiggy]

I read a story about Michelle Obama recently in which she said that she will not try to take on an advisory or policy-shaping roll. She referred to herself as "First Mom." I kinda liked that.

[Kiwon]

Where would you send your kids, Kiwon?

:) :) :)

If Kiwon were President Barack Obama, an historic figure in American history that will always be remembered, I would enroll my kids in a Washington D.C. public school and do more for the image of public school education in general, and the development of a positive reinforcement for education within the Black community, in particular, then has ever been done before.

Obama has a special opportunity here to lead by example and help lift the Black Community to embrace the goal of getting a good education as necessary and a positive thing.

50% of Black kids drop out of high school. 70% of Black children are born out of wedlock. 30% of Black males are in prison, awaiting trial or on parole.

The negative peer pressure is enormous - getting an education is "a white thing to do."

This is an area where Obama really can make a difference because African-Americans identify with him and are inspired by him.

Yeah, I'd send my kids to public school and do more for public education than has been done in years and years.

[packinpatland]

Where would you send your kids, Kiwon?

:) :) :)

If Kiwon were President Barack Obama, an historic figure in American history that will always be remembered, I would enroll my kids in a Washington D.C. public school and do more for the image of public school education in general, and the development of a positive reinforcement for education within the Black community, in particular, then has ever been done before.

Obama has a special opportunity here to lead by example and help lift the Black Community to embrace the goal of getting a good education as necessary and a positive thing.

50% of Black kids drop out of high school. 70% of Black children are born out of wedlock. 30% of Black males are in prison, awaiting trial or on parole.

The negative peer pressure is enormous - getting an education is "a white thing to do."

This is an area where Obama really can make a difference because African-Americans identify with him and are inspired by him.

Yeah, I'd send my kids to public school and do more for public education than has been done in years and years.

What a crock. Hopefully, Mrs. Kiwon would have better sense. Thankfully, we'll never find out. :lol:

[digitaldean]

1. Hillary Clinton is nothing but a scheming opportunist. She took one real risk in her political life, got burned for it, and decided that from then her way would be whichever way the wind is blowing.

2. McCain ceased to be a "maverick" back in 2000 and became a tool of the far right. Plus he's dull and repetitive when he's not yelling at kids to get off his lawn.

3. Blessed be Obama, for Obama is great.

Point 1: agreed. Billary would've sold just about any family member up the river to get to the Oval Office.
Point 2: McCain was a hawk in defense, but his campaign finance reform, immigration reform stances are nothing but a Democrat-light stance.
Point 3: where's my barf bag when I need it.

[Harlan Huckleby]

1. Hillary Clinton is nothing but a scheming opportunist. She took one real risk in her political life, got burned for it, and decided that from then her way would be whichever way the wind is blowing.

2. McCain ceased to be a "maverick" back in 2000 and became a tool of the far right. Plus he's dull and repetitive when he's not yelling at kids to get off his lawn.

3. Blessed be Obama, for Obama is great.

The funny thing is, there is no way to know if you are speakiing tongue-in-cheek.

It is impossible to parody Obama supporters, they are already in self-parody.

[Kiwon]

Where would you send your kids, Kiwon?

:) :) :)

If Kiwon were President Barack Obama, an historic figure in American history that will always be remembered, I would enroll my kids in a Washington D.C. public school and do more for the image of public school education in general, and the development of a positive reinforcement for education within the Black community, in particular, then has ever been done before.

Obama has a special opportunity here to lead by example and help lift the Black Community to embrace the goal of getting a good education as necessary and a positive thing.

50% of Black kids drop out of high school. 70% of Black children are born out of wedlock. 30% of Black males are in prison, awaiting trial or on parole.

The negative peer pressure is enormous - getting an education is "a white thing to do."

This is an area where Obama really can make a difference because African-Americans identify with him and are inspired by him.

Yeah, I'd send my kids to public school and do more for public education than has been done in years and years.

What a crock.

Why so cynical?

Obama's a phony in several areas but at least he is inspirational to most of the Black community. You really don't get the positive influence he could have on a people mired in negative stereotypes and victimhood?

The Carters "were wrong" to send their daughter to public school? How can you criticize them 30 years after the fact?

[sheepshead]

1. Hillary Clinton is nothing but a scheming opportunist. She took one real risk in her political life, got burned for it, and decided that from then her way would be whichever way the wind is blowing.

2. McCain ceased to be a "maverick" back in 2000 and became a tool of the far right. Plus he's dull and repetitive when he's not yelling at kids to get off his lawn.

3. Blessed be Obama, for Obama is great.

The funny thing is, there is no way to know if you are speakiing tongue-in-cheek.

It is impossible to parody Obama supporters, they are already in self-parody.


:wink:

[sheepshead]

Where would you send your kids, Kiwon?

:) :) :)

If Kiwon were President Barack Obama, an historic figure in American history that will always be remembered, I would enroll my kids in a Washington D.C. public school and do more for the image of public school education in general, and the development of a positive reinforcement for education within the Black community, in particular, then has ever been done before.

Obama has a special opportunity here to lead by example and help lift the Black Community to embrace the goal of getting a good education as necessary and a positive thing.

50% of Black kids drop out of high school. 70% of Black children are born out of wedlock. 30% of Black males are in prison, awaiting trial or on parole.

The negative peer pressure is enormous - getting an education is "a white thing to do."

This is an area where Obama really can make a difference because African-Americans identify with him and are inspired by him.

Yeah, I'd send my kids to public school and do more for public education than has been done in years and years.

This is a very good point. All this "change" stuff is looking more and more like a nice word on a placard. Names like clinton, kerry daschle, being thrown around.. Should have been "let's go back to the '90's" Que up some Huey Lewis man. Arent we all expecting the unexpected?

[Kiwon]

"President-elect Barack Obama and his wife have chosen private Sidwell Friends School in Washington for their two daughters, a spokeswoman for the soon-to-be first lady said Friday.

A spokeswoman for Michelle Obama, Katie McCormick Lelyveld, says the Obamas considered several schools for 10-year-old Malia and 7-year-old Sasha but decided Sidwell Friends was the best fit."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2008-11-21-obama-school_N.htm

Good for them.

But now I don't want to hear about how public schools are sooooo great or that D.C. should be the 51st state.

The Obamas had a chance to make a bold, confident statement about the quality of public schools and inspire a black inner-city populace that drops out of school at an alarmingly rate.

Instead, like most privilegd people, they go the private school route.

"Change We Can Believe In" - What change?

He stocks his "new" administration with Clinton retreads (including Hillary herself!) and then they call it "change?"

His preacher said that "America is controlled by rich, white people" and then his church provides him with a $10 million line of credit and builds him a mansion in an exclusive gated community that is, gulp, overwhelmingly "white."

I guess white people have graduated into mind control now because somehow they prevent community activists like Barack Obama and Jeremiah Wright from living up to their rhetoric.

[sheepshead]

They mentioned security as a leading factor. I'll give them that. All presidential children are targets, unfortunately, Malia and Sasha will likely draw even more nutballs.

[Kiwon]

They mentioned security as a leading factor. I'll give them that. All presidential children are targets, unfortunately, Malia and Sasha will likely draw even more nutballs.

Security is a red herring.

Any environment can be made relatively secure.

The decision was made based on class, wealth, and educational standards.

Obama is far more politician than altruistic community activist. The story about shunning corporate law on Wall Street to work for public education in Chicago for humanitarian reasons is a myth.

Bill Ayers got a $50 million grant and recruited Obama to be the point man in its distribution. $50 million is a great way for a guy to begin to build a political career and Obama was a master at it.

Chicago public schools are no better for his presence there and D.C.'s public schools apparently won't be either.

As I said before, I respect Jimmy Carter for putting his daughter in a public school. He portrayed himself as a man of the people through this and Habitat for Humanity, for example.

The Obamas are political class elites. They play aggrieved minorities only when it suits them. While their kids are attending private Sidwell Friends, we'll be getting lectured on how public schools are poised and ready to make great strides if only they had more government money.

Sorry, the Obamas don't get a pass from me. It's the standard liberal hypocrisy, "Do as I say, not as I do."

[packinpatland]

"As I said before, I respect Jimmy Carter for putting his daughter in a public school. He portrayed himself as a man of the people through this and Habitat for Humanity, for example.

The Obamas are political class elites. They play aggrieved minorities only when it suits them. While their kids are attending private Sidwell Friends, we'll be getting lectured on how public schools are poised and ready to make great strides if only they had more government money.

Sorry, the Obamas don't get a pass from me. It's the standard liberal hypocrisy, "Do as I say, not as I do.""

I respect Jimmy Carter too, Habitat for Humanity is a true worthwhile selfless cause. Having his daughter enroll in the local public school.....how did that help the educational system? It's still bad.

The Obamas may be considered elite. But they didn't come from elite, they don't 'play' the aggrieved minority....they lived it. Don't say it's 'standard liberal hypocrisy'...........I'm thinking there are plenty of conservatives out there that wouldn't play the matyr, and would agree that sacrificing their kids education isn't the right thing to do.

[arcilite]

lol Kiwon. You crack me up dude.


You really think any Public DC school can be made secure without making it a distraction for all of the other students?

[MJZiggy]

Improving the DC schools from the shithole system it is will make a difference, especially if, in a couple of years he moves his kids into it BECAUSE it's so much better. But dumping your kids into a shithole before you've even taken office for political purposes would make me lose respect for him as he'd be using them.

If the DC residents want a better school system, they can take ownership of the conditions in the schools and do what THEY need to do in order to make it a better place rather than whining about how the president (who last I checked is not in charge of the DC system, and last I checked has more immediate fish to fry anyway) isn't fixing it for them.

[bobblehead]

Kiwon is right and wrong at the same time.

It is hypocritical for obama or any public school union supporting pol to send his kids to private schools. (oh yea, forgot populist)

That being said I won't hold being a hypocrit where ones kids are involved against anyone.

[Kiwon]

I love the excuses.

The guy can "lower the oceans and heal the planet" but he can't actually motivate school administrators and teachers to do their jobs?

Blacks (and others) voted for him simply because of the color of his skin. They are inspired by him and he could take his gravitas and challenge children, black children, to reverse the destructive trends that are devastating their communities and encourage them to make excellence in education as a worthy goal.

The U.S. can build decent schools in Iraq and Afghanistan but all the D.C. public schools are "shitholes" according to MJZ. They can't be made safe according to arcilite. What's the solution, more money? That’s always the answer.

No, how about changing the hearts and minds of black kids, 50% of whom drop out of high school, and have the most to gain by viewing education as a positive thing.

Obama could start his domestic policies with the community that he knows the best. Putting his kids in a decent public school (and they do exist in D.C.) would really be the dramatic "change" that people voted for.

Instead, we've got the Clinton administration, part three, and Obama's two daughters at exclusive Sidwell Friends with the rest of the rich kids.

[Kiwon]

Informative piece on the status of D.C.'s public schools and the implications of Obama's decision to by-pass them.

http://www.foxnews.com/video2/video08.html?maven_referralObject=3228167&maven_referralPlaylistId=&sRevUrl=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,459301,00.html

[MJZiggy]

I suppose you'd enjoy the cover story to Time Magazine this month...

[HowardRoark]

True School Scandal

Public schools are unacceptable to pretty much anyone, liberal or conservative, who has other options.

By Jonah Goldberg


Hypocrisy is an overblown sin. Better to be a hypocrite who occasionally violates his principles than a villain who never does.

I bring this up because the usual, and entirely expected, round of conservative complaints about Barack Obama’s public-schools hypocrisy has begun, and I’m finding it all a bit tedious.

The Obamas will send their two daughters to the expensive private school Sidwell Friends. Yes, that makes him something of a hypocrite because he is a vocal opponent of giving poor kids anything like the same option.

But you know what? Who cares? Personally, I would think less of the Obamas if they sent their kids to bad schools out of some ideological principle. Parents’ first obligation is to do right by their own kids.

In Washington, we have these arguments every time a rich Democrat sends his kids to private schools, which is very often. The real issue is why the public schools are unacceptable to pretty much anyone, liberal or conservative, who has other options. Maybe in the rich suburbs of New York or Los Angeles, wealthy opponents of school choice run less risk of being labeled hypocrites; they can skip the pricey private schools because their public campuses aren’t hellholes.

But most Washington public schools are hellholes. So parents here — including the first family — find hypocrisy a small price to pay for fulfilling their parental obligations.

According to data compiled by the Washington Post in 2007, of the 100 largest school districts in the country, D.C. ranks third in spending for each student, around $13,000 a pupil, but last in spending on instruction. More than half of every dollar of education spending goes to the salaries of administrators. Test scores are abysmal; the campuses are often unsafe.

Michelle Rhee, D.C.’s heroic school chancellor, in her 17 months on the job has already made meaningful improvements. But that’s grading on an enormous curve. The Post recently reported that on observing a bad teacher in a classroom, Rhee complained to the principal. “Would you put your grandchild in that class?” she asked.

“If that’s the standard,” replied the defensive principal, “we don’t have any effective teachers in my school.”

So if Obama and other politicians don’t want to send their kids to schools where even the principals have such views, that’s no scandal. The scandal is that these politicians tolerate such awful schools at all. For anyone.

The main reason politicians adopt a policy of malign neglect: teachers unions, arguably the single worst mainstream institution in our country today. No group has a stronger or better-organized stranglehold on a political party than they do. No group is more committed to putting ideological blather and self-interest before the public good.

Rhee has been pushing a new contract that would provide merit pay to successful teachers. The system is voluntary: Individual teachers can stay in the current system that rewards mere seniority or opt to join a parallel system that pays for superior performance. Many talented teachers would love the opportunity.

Alas, the national teachers unions insist that linking pay to results is an outrageous attack on the integrity of public schools. They have insisted that D.C. teachers not even be allowed to vote on the contract.

The Democratic Party continues to tolerate this sort of thing because public school teachers continue to be reliably liberal voters. And their unions cut big checks.

Obama, however, bragged about being different during his campaign. He declared himself independent from teachers unions and boasted his support for Rhee. But his recent appointment of Stanford professor — and teachers union apologist — Linda Darling-Hammond to head his education transition team is seen by many as a sign that reformers like Rhee can expect little support from the new White House.

And where are the Republicans? Well, if you want a good example of why hypocrisy isn’t the worst thing in the world, just look at the GOP. Because the party supports school-choice vouchers, it’s simply out of the debate. School choice has much to recommend it. But it’s no silver bullet, and vouchers will never gain full acceptance in rich suburbs.

School choice does immunize Republicans from the charge of hypocrisy, however. So rich Republicans can send their kids to ritzy private schools without fear of violating their principles. Good for them. Unfortunately, their principled insulation also makes them largely irrelevant to a debate in which people like Rhee could use all the help they can get.