Posted on 05/12/2009 11:54:25 AM PDT by Mozilla
I'm willing to countenance the possibility that Barack Obama genuinely believes that the DC voucher program is not helping the students who participate. Here's what I don't understand though: how come the Obama girls benefit from leaving the DC public school system? Surely, if it doesn't make any difference, the Obama girls would do just as well in ordinary, democratic, thoroughly American public schools as in an elitist Quaker institution. Wouldn't it bring wonderful diversity to both the school, and the Obama daughters, to have the children of the president rubbing shoulders with the children of the district's more ordinary residents? What is it about the Obama girls that enables them, nearly uniquely, to benefit from school choice? If you know me on this issue, you know that I am very, very upset. And that I think that there is probably a special place in hell reserved for politicians who betray our nation's most helpless children for the benefit of a sullen and recalcitrant teacher's union.There they spend all eternity explaining to their victims why they couldn't possibly have risked their precious babies' future in the public school system, yet felt perfectly free to fling other peoples' children into it by the thousands.
(Excerpt) Read more at meganmcardle.theatlantic.com ...
Sorry, this argument is lost before it begins.
Here’s what I don’t understand though: how come the Obama girls benefit from leaving the DC public school system?
Well let’s see. Their parents are paying the tuition for private school. My parents sent us. My brother, sister and I all sent or send our kids to Catholic school too. Not difficult question to answer. I applaud the Obama’s. The Bush girls went to private school too. In fact, the only child to go to DC public school was President Carter.
This is nonsense. These children ARE different. It has nothing to do with political parties. If I were in the WH I would put my children in private school too. It’s safer and less stressful for everyone.
Cindie
You know, this comes up every time we have a president (or other high muckity-muck) with school-age kids come to Washington.
To be honest, I think the security issues alone justify putting the kids in that Quaker school. Not just for their sake but for your kids who are in the public school.
Honestly, would you want all that secret service crap going on at your kids’ school? Imagine the hassles of keeping famous kids safe to go to lunch, the locker room, the bathroom, etc.
Just to go to a school play or basketball game your kids were in would require long waits and searches I bet.
And what if terrorists DID target the kids? Would you want your kids caught in the crossfire?
Let the elite bunch up, I say. Leave us regular folks alone.
I think your comment about the Bush daughters is incorrect, or at least incomplete. My recollection was that they attended public high school in Texas. You’re right that only Amy Carter (in recent years) went to DC public schools, and the Carters ended up removing her from the public school.
for real, they probably can’t protect the girls in the public school system
Everyone knows the voucher system is successful.
Just a Chicago thug paying off the teachers union.
Look beyond the issues expored in this article. The security headaches alone make it almost requisite that these girls not attend a public school. If these girls were slated to attend a public shchool and I were in charge of the SS detail, I would forbid it and resign when told to do it anyway.
But Obama is taking that option away from less affluent people by ending the voucher program.
So the lesson is, “I am rich, I can do what I want. You are poor, you do what I allow.”
Isn’t this kind of like saying, why should some people get to drive a Mercedes, while others have to ride the bus?
Some people have the money to spend 20-30,000 to send their kids to private school, and some don’t. Some that have the money choose not to, and some that don’t have money receive financial aid.
This is called Freedom. If you work hard and make enough money, you can pay for a special school for your kids, if you don’t have enough money, they can get an education at the public school. This article is stupid.
You could be right about the Bush girls going to public school in Texas...not sure, but Carter girl going to public school was an experience than must have failed. It COULD have been to difficult for Secret Service to control things in public school. Private schools are typically smaller and the kids that go usually care about school more...or at least the parents do...lol.
Didn’t they remove her because of an incident where she lost a spelling bee and threw a temper tantrum so bad that the SS took the prize from the winner and gave it to her to shut her up.
There WERE vouchers available and the program was criticized by the president. And then he opts his own kids out of the public skrools he condemns the commoners’ kids to.
But Obama is taking that option away from less affluent people by ending the voucher program.
Most private school have some sort of aid program that will help those less fortunate. Why should I pay my tax money to some kid going to school when these kids already have programs at the private schools.
The government that gives you vouchers/healthcare can take them away.
The tuition at Sidwell Friends is $29,000+. I don’t think the voucher program could possibly provide that kind of tuition for students in the program. I don’t this it should either. Do we know that there are kids at Sidwell Friends that are attending solely because of the voucher program, or are we just speculating?
Again I don’t want my taxes going to vouchers. Why do you want the government involved with this when the schools already give aid to those who need it. I wonder about conservatives now a day. They LOVE big government if it is a support issue. It is very scary that I am hearing cheerleading about the federal government coming to the rescue...Do you folks hear yourselves????????
hey if you wanna go to private school, get out there and earn the money to send your kids. otherwise, shut up.
Yep. The Secret Service would be outgunned.
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