Obama kids: Public or Private School?

[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.

[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.