By Tim Redmond
It should come as no surprise, but the Obamas have decided to send their kids to Sidwell Friends, a $21,000-a-year private school in DC.
It shouldn’t bother me, but it does.
And I can’t believe how many comments and letters I’ve gotten about my last column on this. Most of the people writing in say that (a) it’s the Obamas own damn business and I shouldn’t criticize them for where they choose to educate their kids and (b) only a private school like Sidwell, which is used to handling the children of celebrities, could provide the security necessary for the daughters of the president.
The first point is true, as far as it goes. It’s their business. But Barack Obama is also the (incoming) president of the United States, and what he does has major implications. Imagine the message he would have sent if he’d decided that his own kids should go to public schools, just like the kids of most of his (less fortunate) constituents. The school he chose would instantly become the most desirable school in DC — and imagine, a public school becoming the most desirable school in the nation’s capitol.
It would also instantly become the safest school — in fact, that public school would probably be about the safest place in the entire city. The Secret Service pays for security for the president’s family, so there would be no cost to the district. And while it’s always a challenge protecting presidential kids, the secret service is pretty good at its job. I don’t buy the safety and security argument.
(The argument also assumes that rich people are necessarily less dangerous than poor people. Osama Bin Laden, for one, comes from a very wealthy family.)
Anyway, I’m still sorry he shafted the public schools. You’d expect that from a Bush but not from someone who has promised a new way of doing business.
Oh and by the way: Am I really the only person who’s bothered by this?