Looks like Barack and Michelle have made a choice as far as what school to send their daughters, Malia and Sasha. They will be attending a very elite private school in D.C. that is home to many children of Washington insiders. It is known as "Sidwell Friends School".



Sidwell Friends School News and Events

Take a look at how much tuition is at this school per school year. It's more than many American families make in one year.

Quote:

2008-2009 Tuition and Fees Lower School $28,442 Middle and Upper Schools $29,442 Sidwell Friends School: Admissions Tuition and Fees

Quote:

Obamas Pick Sidwell Friends School for Daughters On background from an Obama aide: "Mrs. Obama is the product of public education on the South Side of Chicago and she believes strongly in the importance of good public schools for all kids. The Obama Administration intends to work closely with the school systems in the years to come to ensure quality public education is available to all kids.The Obamas' daughters are very young and moving to the White House is a big change for them. The primary concern was finding a school that felt comfortable and was in their overall best interest. The Obama daughters bring with them a number of security and privacy concerns that come with being part of the new first family -- and the school they've selected is positioned to appropriately accommodate that." Obamas Pick Sidwell Friends

Sure, one can use the excuse of "security concerns" as far as why they didn't choose a public school for their kids. I would have preferred that they chose a public school, but that is their choice. So much for leading by example. I just hope our President Elect doesn't ignore the education needs of the rest of America's children. Time will tell.

What do you think? Should they have decided on a public school or is their choice to send them to an elite private school the right choice? Comments?

__________________
___________________

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Wish Barack H. Obama good luck on 1/20/2009 (202) 456-1414
Inauguration Day Events

Well, if I were rich, I too would choose private schools for my kids, because private schools tend to be smaller, server more homogenous populations, and can kick out all the rif-raff. They also don't need to deal with the "universal" student population. They can inherently spend resources more effectively. THe problem is that it leaves a buttload of students and populations out as they can cherry pick with impunity.

For example, they can deny special ed students or "behaviourally challenged" students. This makes their ratings go up as they are very limiting on who goes in.

It's really unfair to do a straight comparison between private and public schools, given private schools have an unfair advantage of not having to deal with the same problem populations. It skews the results. The parents who send their kids to them also tend to be more educated, wealthier, which means they have more time to devote to their children's education.

__________________

He probably knows that private schools tend to be better than the crappy public schools.

__________________
May your paradise always be green, you liberties always be full, and may the ignorance of you enemies not drive you to be pro-nuke.

"We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself
into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and
trying to lift himself up by the handle."-Winston Churchill

And private schools are better for certain incompatible reasons. One of which being the people who send their kids to them are already wealthier and have better educations. So the students do better as a function of that. Moreover, the selectivity of private schools isn't allowed in public schools. Private schools can only ever serve a very small segment of the population. It's how they get their results. FI they had to be universal institutions that were mandated to provide an education to everyone, you would quickly lose the benefits of the small, segmented institution.

They get to cherry pick their way to better statistics by dumping all other students they don't want.

__________________

That is why they are called "Elite" schools. Those that do not meet up to their standards, both financially and educationally, are denied acceptance. Plus, I am sure that there is a waiting list a mile long. Only the elite of the elite will be accepted.

__________________
___________________

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Wish Barack H. Obama good luck on 1/20/2009 (202) 456-1414
Inauguration Day Events

And that's why "private" schools are incomparable and really aren't realistic for the majority of people. The system works entirely differently inherently. You can't have an effective mass education with private schooling unless you cut out large groups of people, parents, families, communities, etc.

Any mass private school system will then have the problems of the public school systems.

But then again, not ALL public schools have problems: those in very wealthy communities tend to do very well.

__________________

It's unrealistic to expect the children of the President to go to a public school.

__________________
Carolina Politics Online

Sam

Doesnt bother me.

If I was him I would send them to a good school to.

__________________
Walt Whitman
"I say that democracy can never prove itself beyond cavil, until it founds and luxuriantly grows its own forms of art, poems, schools, theology, displacing all that exists, or that has been produced anywhere in the past, under opposite influences."

Also unrealistic to expect an elitist to send their kids to the "common folks" school.

__________________
___________________

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Wish Barack H. Obama good luck on 1/20/2009 (202) 456-1414
Inauguration Day Events

spin doctor Cho,

spin spin spin, round and round you go.

Tell me when you let go of your hate and bias and then we can have a conversation.

__________________
Walt Whitman
"I say that democracy can never prove itself beyond cavil, until it founds and luxuriantly grows its own forms of art, poems, schools, theology, displacing all that exists, or that has been produced anywhere in the past, under opposite influences."