School thoughts

So, after reading an article and doing a little digging, it appears that all of the schools the Obamas are looking at for their children appear to have tuition in the $30,000 range. That's per child, per year.

During my college years, that was about 3 years of undergrad at Gannon - including room and board.

As much as I liked Obama (though he wasn't my first choice among the Democrats - I liked Bill Richardson and Chris Dodd), I have an issue with this. I know the DC schools suck, as do most of the public schools in all the big cities, but think what a statement it would make to send your kids to one of them. If you claim you support public education, then your actions should reflect that - even if you are the President.

Here in Louisiana, most white, middle class parents send their kids to private schools. And, as a result, our public schools are among the worst in the country. When you don't have to care about issues facing public schools because they don't impact your kids - you don't.

That drove me crazy when I worked at the CCC. The kids who went to non-Catholic schools (about 10% of the total in the parish) got the short end of the stick all the time. Everything we did reflected a bias toward the kids in Catholic school. And every time I'd try to change it I heard, "Oh, they are such a small minority. We just can't accomodate them." It drove me up a wall.

So, Mr. President-elect (and Mrs. First Lady to Be), you have a choice. You can put actions to your words about supporting public education, or you can spend $60,000 a year to educate your children and show that it's all just lip service for you, too.