By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
Barack and Michelle Obama's children will attend Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., it was confirmed Saturday. It's a private school that charges (gulp) $29,000 a year in tuition.
And that doesn't cover the cost of textbooks or other services from the school. You can see the eye-popping numbers at the school's Web site.
In KC, that's double what the most expensive private schools -- Rockhurst, St. Theresa's, Barstow, Pembroke Day -- charge.
While some die-hard liberals will be upset that Obama is sending his children to private schools, he had no choice given the low quality of Washington, D.C., schools.
At least when he's president he will save a few thousand dollars on after-care payments. It's unlikely the president's daughters will need it.
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silly, ridiculous, absurd
Complaining about the President's children going to this or that private school--whoever the President is--is such a waste of time. If for no other reason but sheer safety the children will virtually ALWAYS have to go to a private school.
And--separate note--vouchers are the surest way to undermine the existing public school system. It shouldn't even be considered.
Mo Rage
The Blog
Teachers don't get summers off
You must not know many teachers. I have a whole family full of them and they don't get summers off. They either teach or attend summer school. Certification requirements are now so stringent teachers are in school themselves many evenings and summers. And the pay is so poor they need to work summers. I know very few teachers who can actually afford to take a summer off, especially in this economy.
I also am not aware of any union that opposes year round school. You assume too much.
As far as who is in charge, communities should be. Open up the buildings to the community, bring people in and they will take a more active role in improving the schools serving their community.
Vouchers
Apop, I want do away with the public school system as it's presently constructed. I don't need libs employed and destroying children as the present school system does.
I want all private, nonunion schools that COMPETE for student's vouchers. This competition can take the form or higher test scores, a safer environment, expecting personal responsibility etc. Parental responsibility would of course be expected as part of the bargain.
Today's lib based institutions perpetuate the victimhood of innercity students, don't graduate a high enough percentage and merely provide employment for libs.
Try reading my response next time
I want all private, nonunion schools that COMPETE for student's vouchers. This competition can take the form or higher test scores, a safer environment, expecting personal responsibility etc. Parental responsibility would of course be expected as part of the bargain.
Today's lib based institutions perpetuate the victimhood of innercity students, don't graduate a high enough percentage and merely provide employment for libs.
I posted a detailed response with several ideas for improving our public schools and you respond with let's just throw out the baby with the bath water. That would be like me saying let's ban the Republican party because of the scandals.
How lame.
But Apop
You don't want vouchers because there's no money. Where is the money coming from for your ideas? Isn't it the same missing money?
Sending our kids to private schools is much more expensive
Do the math. Be sure and add in the extras I mentioned. Oh and don't forget transportation. How much do you figure it costs to transport a kid from the urban core to Pembroke?
If you really support vouchers, where are you going to get the money for them?
Money for Vouchers
Private enterprise can provide education for LOWER costs then our presently bloated public system. Just removing the exorbinant pensions that educators receive will be millions of dollars every year. Couple this with what in todays environment are deluxe health care plans, and you cover the voucher route plus. As you say, do the math Apop.
What exhorbitant pensions?
Teachers are underpaid as it is and retire at maybe 40% of their pay. Please explain what is exhorbitant about that.
Oh and just like your 401K, the teachers pay into their pensions themselves. But you want to take their own money away from them?
Clueless and uninformed. Tsk. Tsk.
Apop...
Teachers are also exempt from FICA, which HELPS to fund their generous pensions. The standard in American industry today is self-funded pensions with employer contributions ONLY during the employee's career, which is not 30 and out as our education system is. 40% is far above industry standards.
I noticed you did not address the health care bonanza for educators. I expected that. Standard healthcare today is high copays and deductibles, educators have low copays and deductibles. This money will fund any additional transportation costs from a free-enterprise education system.
But I guess this is "just clueless and uninformed" to your lib mind. I hate to bring facts up, but facts are friends apop.
Apop - you missed my point
You say there's not enough money for vouchers (because of the extras). OK, fine. Let's assume you are right. Now, I ask you - where is the money coming from for your proposal below, ie. class size, two teachers in every class, year-round school, a/c, and everything else you mentioned? I say that your proposal is a pipe-dream because there's a money problem. So, if the money is found, would you be in favor of vouchers?
How dense are you?
No, and I don't know how many times I have to say it. No vouchers. Period. I favor improvements that benefit ALL of our kids.
And yes, brainiac, of course they cost money. I happen to think our kids are worth it. If we can build a stadium for an NFL team with a losing record, we can find the money to improve our schools. Then there is also that $720 million we spend every day in Iraq. Or that $3 billion a year we send to Israel.
Priorities. Mine are with our kids. Where are yours?
To Apop, from Brainiac
Every kid could be driven to school by a limo if we had the money. That was my point. IF WE HAD THE MONEY. You say we don't have enough money for vouchers, but you put out a plan that you know full well there's not enough money. So your long post is for nothing. If you can find the money for your plan, I say we instead use it for vouchers, so parents can decide where their kids go to school, not some government. Your plan still restricts kids to specific schools, and if liberals are running the school, they will figure out a way to screw it up.
Go, con, go!
If YOU had gone to a real school and gotten an actual education, you could spell "liberal" too! I feel your pain. Also your stupidity: let's do everything to encourage schools to teach the test and avoid actual thinking. This way the kids can all vote conservative if they ever grow up.
We can't afford vouchers
Vouchers are for only SOME kids. And there is no way our state or federal government has enough money to give vouchers that cover the cost of tuition and all the other extras.
How do you decide which kids get vouchers? Are you going to pay for their transportation as well? What about the kids who are still in the public schools? You right wingers love to play the exclusivity game but that won't work when it comes to our most precious resource - our children.
Want to improve our public schools? There are several obvious solutions:
1. Reduce all classes to no more than 15 students. Put a certified teacher and a paraprofessional in each class.
2. Implement a year round school year. Our current school calendar is based on the needs of an agrarian society, which we no longer have. Keep our kids in school 12 months of the year to stop the loss of academic progress over the summer months that teachers have reported for decades now. (And spare me the 'I make my kids read all summer' argument. Most parents do not.) The first quarter of every school year is spent reviewing what the kids learned the year before. This would not be necessary if they were in school year round.
3. Modernize all of our school buildings with air conditioning and the latest technology.
4. Turn our schools into community centers that are open 12 or more hours a day, 6 days a week. Put health clinics in school buildings staffed by a nurse practitioner. Make dental and psychiatric services available as well, and not just for the students, but for the community. Allow community groups to use classrooms for evening meetings. Provide adult education classes.
5. Raise the dropout age to 18. Make kids want to come to high school by providing a variety of vocational programs as well as the standard college prep curriculum. Allow kids in grades 11 and 12 to take college level coursework once they have met the requirements for high school graduation.
6. Raise teacher salaries to a level that is competitive with other professions that require a college degree. Allow teachers to work a flexible schedule in a year round school so they can go to school themselves and earn advanced degrees.
Of course we can't afford to both improve our public schools AND provide vouchers. I prefer the programs that help ALL of our kids and the communities where they live instead of the voucher programs that only benefit a few.
Apop - on the surface
Sounds all well and fine. As I was reading your post, I kept wondering where the money would come from. You know - the same money you said wasn't there for vouchers. Also, please convince me that the teachers union is going to go for year-round school. Them teachers need 3 months off each year to unwind. Don't get me wrong, I have the greatest admiration for good teachers, but one of the main reasons college students go into teaching is the summer off. Like I said, Apop, it all sounds good - but you said there wasn't any money. Also, you've really expanded the role of schools - are the libs going to still run them like they run them now?
The taxpayers are not paying
The taxpayers are not paying for the Obama kids' tuition. What a ridiculous assumption.
To all of you who want vouchers, do you mean you want the kids in D.C. public schools to be able to attend Sidwell Friends at taxpayer expense? You are willing to spend $29,000 per kid on a voucher for Sidwell Friends?
And you call Obama a socialist. ROFLMAO
There is no way the per pupil cost of education in the D.C. system is $29,000. Pembroke Hill costs around $15,000. And you guessed it - that is a lot higher than the per pupil cost in the KC District.
And tuition is not the only expense. Kids in private schools have to buy their own books. They have to pay for all their extra curricular activities and the transportation to get there. So if one of the Obama girls wants to play basketball, she will have to pay to play, pay for her uniform and pay for the ride to away games.
So you can add a few thousand dollars to that tuition amount. Do you think parents of kids on vouchers for tuition only can afford the extras? Have you priced any textbooks lately?
The other glaring problem here in KC is there are not enough private schools and in many areas of the city there are none. So are you willing to give kids in the KC District a voucher for $15,000 to attend Pembroke and pay for their transportation to school, their books and all other fees?
It is painfully obvious you voucher proponents have not bothered to think this through.
So Apop, you are ok with vouchers?
You just don't think the folks can afford the extras? So lets just forget about vouchers and keep sending our kids to urban schools run by lib administrations, lib teachers & lib unions. It's ok that the schools suck as long as the libs get paid. As long as the liberals are running the urban public schools (via teacher's union or administrations) the urban schools will only serve the ones that can't afford anything else. And you liberal voters out there, you are getting what you asked for.
Denise T. -
Denise T. - horrible.
http://voices.kansascity.com/node/2884#comment-12331
"There are times we regret it. The city lifestyle is fun and our kids would have had a better education in a private school, but we wanted to support the public school system." Denise Tiller
So you decided to put your philosophical support for the public school system over the welfare of your own children - you've just admitted they would have had a "better education in a private school", yet you purposefully chose to give them a worse education so you could adhere to your principles. Fun in the city apparently was a counterbalance to your children's education, as far as I can gather from your comments. You KNEW your children would do better elsewhere, but you chose to let them achieve less because you selfishly wanted to make some sociological point. You cared more about appearance than you did about your own children's future, according to you, not me.
May I ask you, Denise, in all seriousness: what kind of principles do you have that allow you to consciously send your children to schools that cannot give them the kind of education they could get elsewhere, since apparently you could afford private schools? By this, do you mean it's perfectly fine for Obama to benefit HIS children but not you YOURS?
No one has answered my points about the Democrats controlling DC for decades, which has resulted in a horrendous public school system that no elected official wants to send his children to - why is that, do you think?
What the heck is wrong with you people who think this way? Aren't your children your most precious asset??? How can you hang them out to dry this way???
Why Liberals Abandon
Why Liberals Abandon Schools
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=N2EzNGQ5YzFmOThjOGQ5YTFlYTA5OGM1MDA3ODY0MjA=
Liberals, the scourge of the earth.
Not "Elitist," or
Not "Elitist," or "Hypocritical," or "Two-Faced"...
Good people will always provide the best they are able to for their children, politics be damned. I have said this before...It is a fact of life and a force of nature. The welfare of one's children should never be sacrificed for politics, no matter what.
Come on those of you who are
Come on those of you who are still stomping their feet and beating their fists...get over it the McCain ticket didn't win.
Are any private schools cheap? DAHHHHHHhhhhhhhhh
Get real...I am going to have to give it to you hard here...here comes your reality check...
In case you haven't noticed or heard, There have already been some threats on the Obama's. How would you like to live with those apples???
Think of security at a regular school. I would much rather they be safe and have Mr. Obama with his mind on business then having to worry about his children and their safety.
Do you NOT think that the fact that they are children and want to lead normal lives have anything to do with it?
Shame on you'all who think it is money that is wasted. How can an education and the security of your children be wasted or an expense that is not necessary.
Shame on you for trying to pick the bones clean...you remind me a a group of vultures along side of the road fighting over a dead stinky maggot filled carcass. Get a grip people...
Haven't you got something better to do, like help pull a nation back together?
When was the last time you turned around in the grocery line and said something to the person in back of you?
Said something nice to someone for no reason.
Get off your box of sour crab apples and help fix the nation. One person, one day at a time if we have too.
What parent does not want the best for their children? If there are any of you out there who do not...well, give your child to someone else because you do not deserve them.
You'all are like a bunch of crabs in a bucket...do you know what a bunch of crabs in a bucket do???
Watch them...one will start trying to get out of the bucket and the other crabs will pull him back into the bucket.
Now, you would think that one crab would be an example and the others would follow and try to climb up on the first crab to get out....but they don't, they pull him back down with the rest of them.
So, they all stay in the bucket.
Don't be crabs in a bucket...
Southern smiles and world peace,
Sharon/BabyBoomerQueen
http://www.BabyBoomerAdvisorClub.com
Denise Tiller, Midwest
Denise Tiller, Midwest Voices 2008 Panelist
Given that the wealthy of Kansas City pretty much abandoned the public school here years ago, I think people here should understand why the Obama's chose a private school. It happens here every day.
Furthermore, the Bush twins attended private schools in Dallas and Austin, and the public school systems there aren't nearly as bad as in Washington, DC. Nor was security as much of an issue.
George W. Bush attended expensive private schools all of his life.
I think security is probably more of a problem now then when Amy Carter went to school. The schools are also probably worse.
When we moved here, we had two options. We could live in KC and send our kids to Pembroke or Barstow, or we could live in Southern Johnson County and send them to Blue Valley.
There are times we regret it. The city lifestyle is fun and our kids would have had a better education in a private school, but we wanted to support the public school system.
Denise Tiller, Midwest Voices 2008 Panelist
Denise Tiller - hard
Denise Tiller - hard choice?
So your choices were Pembroke or Barstow - or go "slumming" and send your kids to Blue Valley?
I've lived in KC area for many years. People moved out of KC proper to Johnson County to get their kids out of the KC School District. That's understandable. Johnson County (at the time - Shawnee Mission) schools were top-rate. What seems odd to me is that folks in the BV School District would even think of putting their kids in a private school. Yea, folks that live in KC proper have an easy decision - but Johnson County? Come on!
Parents want the best for
Parents want the best for their kids.
My husband and I send our four year old to a private school and will continue to do so through highschool. Parents only want the best for their children, the Obamas want no less for theirs. Has anyone even considered the security issues at a public school in DC?
Isn't that "special". The
Isn't that "special". The taxpayers get to spend $60,000+ a year for Obama's kids to go to an overpriced private school. Since he opposes vouchers so all parents can have a choice they should be in PUBLIC school.
Some Americans can be idiots.
Yea I think Obama's kids should go to public schools in the ghetto. Don't ya know black kids belong in the ghetto.
I see just a little bit of racism. How about the cost of protecting Bush's two spoiled out of control girls?
Lol - 29K a pop. Exactly how
Lol - 29K a pop. Exactly how does Obama and his Michelle my belle explain this to the people they've been lying to about their non-elitism?
They have not been lying
They have not been lying about their elitism. Wanting - and being able to afford - the best schools for your children ( there is also a reported safety value at this school as well, it's not like there hasn't been in increase in white/black love fests lately ) is not elitism.
And as a parent of two children would you folks knock of the use of elitism to mean the ability to speak clearly and be intelligent. I wish our current office holder ... wait a minute ... he went to Yale ... damned elitist - Cheney went to Yale too but only for one year so did first daughter Barbara Bush. They're all damned elitists. Where do you want your president to have gone to school ?
So lets ask all the parents of school age children - "If money was no object and you wanted a secure and mentally stimulating school would you send your children to the best one you could ?"
The answer Grinch is "yes" from everyone.
And that doesn't mean we're elitists, it means we want the best we can get ( I pay extra for hormone free turkeys too ).
Next time you are getting a prostate exam - ask your doctor if he lives in your trailer park, odds are "nope", ask the guy who runs Walmart where he lives and where his children go to school ( remember Page Laurie ? )
The guy who runs the company that sells you gasoline, the company that makes the bread you eat ... They all pick the best they can.
How about the parents who send their daughters to softball travelling teams with the hope they'll get college scholorships - aren't they "elitists"
"Elitists" , what a joke. I'm proud my children are smart and can get good grades and go to college.
Sorry, rjr - you apparently
Sorry, rjr - you apparently misunderstood my laser for a shotgun blast.
I also believe it's everyone's right to send their children to the best place they can. However, the reason I said Obama was lying about his non-elitism is that he constantly tried to make himself look like one of the masses. He supports public education for everyone else, so if government is so good at educating then why would he need to send his children to a private Quaker school? Why, I thought everything government did for its citizens was great, no? I mean, what better example could he make than to send his children to a public school in Washington, D.C.? After all, the D.C. has been controlled for decades by Democrats at every level - surely their enlightened social policies and genuine concern for its citizens, combined with so many very, very smart and non-elitist Democrats, has resulted in an outstanding and diverse learning experience that must be the envy of the world, correct?
Actually, no - that's why the people we elect to national office almost never send their children to the same school system most people are forced to send theirs to due to their incomes not being able to support $29K a year (and that's not even college tuition). Lead by example? They have no idea what that concept means, but I give you my word that our schools would become far better and safer nationwide if it were required of every elected official at ANY level to send their kinds to public schools through high school.
Anyone remember Obama worrying about the price of arugula and bowling a 29 game??? Oh, yeah, he's a common man alright.
It's not that he is an
It's not that he is an elitist that bothers me, it is the fact that he will not support vouchers. By not supporting vouchers, the big 0 does not allow people to fullfil your liberal dream "would you send your children to the best one you could ?"
He instead keeps that privilege only for the elitists like himself, yet SAYS he is for the less affluent. In other words, he is two-faced. This is what I don't like about the man.
kcgrh wrote:By not
So, kcgrunt's argument against Obama is that he's not being socialist enough?
You right-wing kool-aid drinkers make my head spin sometimes.
Hoisted on his own petard!
Hoisted on his own petard! Well said interface.
"So, kcgrunt's argument against Obama is that he's not being socialist enough?"
Radical/Interface....... You
Radical/Interface.......
You 2 libs just attack the messenger in typical lib form...
I am not the person who is denying the poor kids in D.C. the chance to get out of the hellhole the liberals there call a school.. It is the big 0 who refuses to support vouchers as a payoff to his union pals in the NEA... But then, of course, the big 0 will send his kids to the schools he denies poor kids from attending... sorry you, as usual, can't stand the TRUTH!!!
Liberals, the scourge of the earth.
Kcgrh! You've written, "I am
Kcgrh! You've written, "I am not the person who is denying the poor kids in D.C. the chance to get out of the hellhole" Your heartfelt words of empathy for the under privileged! I'm touched, could it be that you're really a bleeding heart? Is there hope for you yet? Interface will be so thrilled at your conversion! I think I heard a bell ring, could an angel have gotten his wings?
Trust me Radical........ I
Trust me Radical........
I am not a bleeding heart. What I do want for the children is a quality education. To me this means telling the teachers' union the party is over. It means telling them, no more tenure and objective performance measurements which include beginning and ending of the school year tests.
Most teachers I think want to be viewed as professionals, not some union hack, which is what I view them as now.
Until they get into a competitive position where the true performers rise to the top, they aren't pros, just hacks...
At least the school seems to
At least the school seems to have a strong financial aid program- that is probably partly why the tuition is so phenomenally high. I know of boarding schools that cost less.
I am willing to bet the school was chosen based primarily on security and privacy concerns. It would be awesome if their daughters needs for privacy and security could be met by public schools, but unfortunately they cannot.
Naydi, This is a big bunch
Naydi,
This is a big bunch of bs you are saying... how did Carter's daughter go to public school if the "security" problems were so formidable.. you liberals crack me up with you lines of bs...
Then let Michelle
Then let Michelle 'home-school' them. She should be able to, since a liberal education doesn't require kids to think for themselves.
Good 'ol liberals - it must be nice to be able to talk out of both sides of your mouth.
Typical Liberal....
The big O is against vouchers but sends his kids to private schools...
Why do all you liberals who are "supposedly" for the poor people put-up with this two-faced BS? You are pathetic in your lying that you care for the poor... you only care for protecting the teachers' unions and keeping kids in s---hole schools.. How shameful you are!
Just shows to go you.....
Throwing money at a problem doesn't always solve it. We've got our own example with the KC School District. If you could some how get the NEA and the Teacher's Unions from making all of the decisions, this country might have a chance at producing good-quality schools. Also, vouchers will put competition into play, and everyone knows what competition does.