Should Obama Send His Daughters to DC's Public Schools?
As a parent, what would you do?
President Obama made it clear what he would do: rather than sending his daughters to the failing public schools in Washington DC, he is understandably keeping them in Sidwell Friends School, an elite private school in the District.
That was his decision as a parent. But what about as president? Jimmy Carter was the last president to have his child attend a public school in DC. Should presidents send their children to public schools as an example? They have a stake in the nation's public school system after all.
For Obama, he simply wants his daughters to have the best education possible. They would not get that in the DC public schools. The Washington Post reports:
Obama made his comments on NBC's "Today" show in response to a woman who asked whether Malia and Sasha Obama "would get the same kind of education at a D.C. public school" that they would get at the D.C. private school that has educated generations of the city's elite.
"I'll be blunt with you: The answer is no, right now," Obama said. D.C. public schools "are struggling," he said, but they "have made some important strides over the last several years to move in the direction of reform. There are some terrific individual schools in the D.C. system."
Obama said that if he wanted to get his daughters into one of the public schools, "we could probably maneuver to do it." But he said the "broader problem" is that parents without "a bunch of connections" don't have such options.
There is one option that parents without a "bunch of connections" did have: vouchers.
Some of Obama's critics say it is hypocritical to spend so much money on private school [$31k/year per child] while allowing a federal voucher program in the District to lapse . The city's voucher experiment provides up to $7,500 a year for some low-income D.C. families to enroll their children in private school. The Democratic-led Congress and the Obama administration have rejected requests from voucher supporters to reauthorize the program, and it is being phased out.
We've discussed the DC schools here before, specifically in the context of Adrian Fenty losing his mayoral primary to Vincent Gray, and what that means for school reform in DC. Fenty was a proponent of aggressive school reforms (including vouchers)--reforms that his schools chancellor, Michelle Rhee, helped him carry out. With Fenty gone, Rhee's future--and the future of the DC public schools--remains precarious. Rhee has hinted that she might resign from her post once Gray takes his place as mayor.
Responding to Obama's comments about DC's public schools, Rhee said, "it is a fair assessment. We have indeed seen good progress over the last few years, but we still have a long way to go before we can say we're providing all children with an excellent education."
It's understandable that as a parent, Obama wants to provide his daughters with the most excellent education possible. I don't think he should be criticized for sending his daughters to private school. But as a president, he should then do everything in his power to provide the children of DC (and the nation) with the most excellent education possible as well. If that means vouchers and charter schools galore--if that means thumbing his nose, and having the Democrats in Congress thumb their noses, to the teachers unions--so be it.
(h/t Trace).
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May '10
Re: Should Obama Send His Daughters to DC's Public Schools?
I fully agree with TVG's wishes to send the kids up Wisconsin Avenue to Sidwell Friends (that is where Chelsea Clinton went as well) for the best education they can get in DC.
However, given that he doesn't believe that any other District kids should have the same advantages, I am waiting for Davis Guggenheim to do a movie about the elites who don't care about the educational opportunities of the underclass or people of color.
May '10
Re: Should Obama Send His Daughters to DC's Public Schools?
Emily, I totally agree with you. President Obama should find the best educational option for his children within in his means. But, why shouldn't he respect and support parents who seek the same? Shouldn't he support the options that vouchers open up for parents with less income and fewer "connections"? These questions are rhetorical as I'm pretty sure it has to do with teachers unions' support.
Aug '10
Re: Should Obama Send His Daughters to DC's Public Schools?
As a parent, I'd definitely send 'em to private school. Or homeschool.
The problem, anyhow, with privileged people putting on a show of commitment to public schools by sending their kids there is that these same privileged people also have the option of hiring after-school tutors. (I've heard of this happening in England.)
Honestly, I'd be a bit disturbed if the president were sending his kids to DC public schools, as that'd be a sign to me that he was willing to put PR over his own children.
Re: Should Obama Send His Daughters to DC's Public Schools?
Trace and Briar Ann -- I think it would take some real moral courage (Reaganesque moral courage even) for Obama and the Dems to stand up to the teachers unions and allow school reforms--especially vouchers--to take hold in DC. Where is Obama's moral courage?
Re: Should Obama Send His Daughters to DC's Public Schools?
Good point, Midget
Midget Faded Rattlesnake:
Honestly, I'd be a bit disturbed if the president were sending his kids to DC public schools, as that'd be a sign to me that he was willing to put PR over his own children. · Oct 8 at 7:36am
Re: Should Obama Send His Daughters to DC's Public Schools?
I'm a DC parent and let me say that while the schools here are awful, there are some exceptions. And so there might be an instance where an elite sending his kids to public schools would not be putting PR over his children.
Having said that, I'm not even sending my own children to DC schools. We'll be sending ours to a Classical Lutheran School just outside the city.
What bothers me is folks sending their kids to private school while failing to help lower income people escape from the prison of horrific public schools.
Re: Should Obama Send His Daughters to DC's Public Schools?
Mollie Hemingway:
What bothers me is folks sending their kids to private school while failing to help lower income people escape from the prison of horrific public schools. · Oct 8 at 7:47am
Agreed!
Mollie, what made you decide to send your kids to a Classical Lutheran School (Immanuel)?
Edited on Oct 8, 2010 at 7:56amMay '10
Re: Should Obama Send His Daughters to DC's Public Schools?
This question was intended as a humorous riposte, right?
May '10
Re: Should Obama Send His Daughters to DC's Public Schools?
Fine for thee, not fine for me.
It's really hard for me to accept how someone that understands all too well how bad the public choice is (he sent his daughters to private school in Chicago too,) and who is so obviously committed to leveling the playing field, would then be sanguine with writing off a generation of kids while incremental progress is made (or not made).
I would have no issue if his attitude were to leave it to the state and localities. But that doesn't get him off the hook for DC schools. And it certainly doesn't conform to his overall K-12 agenda, which has a quite-aggressive role for the federal government.
I hope someone is bold enough to run ads in 2012 with pictures of the limo dropping the girls off at Sidwell, juxtaposed with kids shuffling off to decrepit DC schools. But they won't...
May '10
Re: Should Obama Send His Daughters to DC's Public Schools?
For security reasons, it wouldn't make sense for any president to send his kids to public school. A president's family is a prime target for kidnapping and murder, and the kids are more safe at a private school where the environment can be more tightly monitored and controlled.
Obama won't support schools except the ones that teach his preferred brand of propoganda. Public school graduates might not remember their math lessons, but they remember that FDR was one of our best presidents and that the Red Scare was a paranoid right-wing fantasy.
May '10
Re: Should Obama Send His Daughters to DC's Public Schools?
Nonsense, Aaron. It is inconvenient, sure- but security is an issue at any school. Church is different, schools would still face the security issue unless they home-schooled in the WH. The transportation process is the major issue, after that, a guy in a black suit with an earphone sits in the back of the room reading Marvel Comics.
The real problem is that the last presidential kid to go to DC public schools was Amy Carter, and all you have to do to is quote her statements in the ensuing years to known why no one after that did the same thing.
Aug '10
Re: Should Obama Send His Daughters to DC's Public Schools?
As befits their noble position , I am surprised the young ladies are not attending Le Rosey.
You would think that someone would say "hum.. four security men, two cars, 9 months a year.....maybe we should keep 'em at home and get a tutor."
But that makes sense-oops !
Keep trying to tie this one to Obama's ankle, but without the help of teachers you'll never succeed. And the teachers are in it up to their necks.
Think that "Waiting for Superman" will get a fair shake and distribution ?
Well, pigs have flown before.
May '10
Re: Should Obama Send His Daughters to DC's Public Schools?
That Obama sends his children to a high quality private school indicates that he can see the truth about the poor quality of the public schools and that he has a normal concern for his children (as Midge points out).
His lack of action on on those public schools indicates that he has no such concern for the children of DC, or anywhere. He knows that he and his family deserve the best, and he's sure, it seems, that others do not.
It is hard to fathom that someone of supposed intelligence could know what is happening literally in his own neighborhood, and not be moved to immediate, angry action. But there it is...
Edited on Oct 8, 2010 at 12:58pmJun '10
Re: Should Obama Send His Daughters to DC's Public Schools?
I have no visibility to local D.C. politics, so I was wondering why Fenty lost. Did the citizens reject his school reform ideas or were there completely different issues at play in the election? If he lost because of the reform ideas, how so? Any guidance would be appreciated...
May '10
Re: Should Obama Send His Daughters to DC's Public Schools?
An important component to this discussion is the economic class distinction within the African American community, especially in the DC Metro area. It is the difference between parents who involve their kids in Jack and Jill of America and parents who send their kids to the Boys and Girls Clubs. Affluent blacks make a conscious choice to distance themselves from poor blacks, even when it comes to choice in schools. I realize that this is not a new phenomenon (i.e. urban sprawl), but I propose that it is relatively new within the black community. I'm not saying its good or bad, but that there's more social and economic pressure than just the state of the DC public school system. And I do believe that both Obama and the teachers union supported Gray in the mayoral race, behind the scenes. Fenty upset a lot of people and lacked the soft touch district residents find so important. He was also unwilling to pander to many of the community leaders. But he and Rhee really hacked off the teachers union. I doubt she'll remain with the Gray administration.
Edited on Oct 8, 2010 at 11:24amMay '10
Re: Should Obama Send His Daughters to DC's Public Schools?
Barack and Michelle will send their children to the same schools that are good enough for all the rest of us when they stand in line for the same healthcare that's good enough for the rest of us.
Democrats are like the pigs in Animal Farm. Much more equal than us other animals.
May '10
Re: Should Obama Send His Daughters to DC's Public Schools?
Fenty was perceived by the poorer neighborhoods on the East side as being the elite candidate of the Caucasian elites in Georgetown and NW DC (e.g., Friendship Heights- where Sidwell Friends is, etc.). The teacher union pulled out all the stops in those neighborhoods to get back at Rhee via Fenty, and thus get the reforms throttled.
It is the union once again. This smelly business will never get fixed until the government unions are shut down.