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Obamas Shock America, Choose Upscale Private School For Daughters
New York, 12:29 AM
Tue Dec 8
50 posts in the last 24 hours
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Obamas Shock America, Choose Upscale Private School For Daughters |
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11/23/08
would you send your kids to a public school in d.c.?
i think hbo has done a special on those schools.
and when hbo shows up to document you, you are either a whore or a crackhead. or both.
11/23/08
That said, I don't really care where those kids go to school.
11/22/08
"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."
Thus it begins.
11/22/08
11/22/08
11/22/08
11/24/08
What I want to know is what the Venn Diagram is like between those who demand that all politicians send their kids to war and those who demand that all politicians send their kids to public school.
11/22/08
11/22/08
11/23/08
11/22/08
11/22/08
I understand your point regarding security concerns - but are you saying a public school can't be secure?
And there's nothing fair about being Presidential kids - something I'm sure the family discussed and considered before the decision to run was made.
11/22/08
REgarding Chelsea, Hillary Clinton said the tabloid media could not kept away from a public school like they could be a private one. Public school parents, kids and teachers are also probably more likely than elite private school ones to blab stories to the press, especially if they are bribed with money (if you're already rich a bribe is obviously going to be less tempting, and Sidwell will be used to having kids the tabloids would like to report on).
I don't think decisions about something as central to kid's life as school should be made as a political propaganda message.
11/22/08
So it's better to base this important decision on the potential for tabloid coverage and that poor public school parents are more likely to accept bribes? (more than a little elitist, btw?)
I think the message would be that public schools are not only unfairly maligned and ignored, but that they're also essential to a vital democracy and deserve the highest priority - something I expect from this President.
11/22/08
11/22/08
So I guess public schools are incapable of providing a safe, secure quality education. Sad.
I think the public desires change, which is what this President ran on. Putting his kids in public school would have shown that he's invested in his message.
11/22/08
Importantly, education reform will take 5-10 years to implement. Measurable positive outcomes will take much longer. The improvement can't, and won't, happen in 4 years. So I don't think he needs to sacrifice his daughters' education in the meantime merely to prove a point.
11/22/08
Also, Obama is not responsible for the decrepit condition of America's public school system. He cannot help the fact that the current state of D.C. schools is unsafe and sub par as academically. He CAN work in towards more progressive educational practices while in office and hope that his daughter's children will enjoy a public school education.
11/22/08
Quick answer: yes. And it's not like these kids wouldn't have tutoring and other extracurricular facilities open to them.
11/22/08
Let's paint a picture...
Girls go to school with bars on the window, cramped elementary school classes (typically 30+ students in D.C.), standards-based no child left behind curriculum (read: busy work), metal detectors, 10 minutes of recess typically on a concrete roof top, and classroom supply budgets of $100. Yes, you heard it correctly. Let me tell you, impossible! That teachers end up spending have of their measly salaries on things like construction paper.
Or they go to the Sidwell School. I won't pain the picture because the website does that better and accurately (the same cannot be said for the DC public school website). www.sidewell.edu.
You decide. I'm a HUGE education reform activist. I adore Jonathan Kozol etc. but I cannot imagine any parent in Obama's position making the choice to send their kids to public school in D fucking C.
11/23/08
11/22/08
Sure, private schools are great but they're not the solution. Public schools continue to be thought of as the option of last resort - and as such they'll continue to get short shrift.
These girls are going to have opportunities and flourish regardless which schools they attend at this age. Seeing the President's daughters in public schools would've made a statement.
11/22/08
I would imagine that disruption of other students is one of the considerations as well. Security and such... and maybe those conditions are easier to fulfill at certain private schools. Sidwell being where Chelsea Clinton attended, there may be already some necessary awareness and security structure in place there.
11/22/08
I think any disruption would be more than offset by the sense of pride instilled in every one of those public school students.
11/22/08
11/22/08
Plus, there would have been more difficult security issues, from what I've read.
Let's just hope he selects an excellent Secretary of Education and that the economy improves.
11/22/08
DC public schools already have difficult security issues!
11/22/08
11/22/08
11/22/08
I assume that means they suck big time.
11/22/08
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11/22/08
While it would have been awesome if the kids went to that Oyster Bilingual public school (which I remember being pretty innovative), their choices were pretty limited.
11/22/08