So…politicians…claims…what’s new?
As for very high end political folks, e.g. children of the President, security dictates almost require that attend private schools. It would be far too disruptive to have security details in a public HS, whereas a place like Sidwell Friends has already much experience in such situations.
Amy Carter went to public school in DC, though that was elementary school.
Yes, that is true. However, the security requirements for contemporary Presidents have dramatically changed, and many of the features are dictated now by the Secret Service, that is to say, I don’t think they have too many options.
I like this article: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/13/us-education-debt-o-malley-idUSKCN0PN26N20150713 . In particular, the article states:
Using outlier examples like these to make political (and journalistic) points is common, but loans like the O’Malleys’ are not typical. In fact, stories about them may do more harm than good.
"It can potentially frighten off those lower-income people who can most benefit from higher education," said Justin Draeger, president of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.
I wonder whether there are any options other than Sidwell Friends, which was Chelsea Clinton’s school and now is the Obama girls’ school. Are any other DC-area schools prepared to cope with the security requirements?
Susan Ford went to a different DC-area private school, but that was a long time ago.
Interesting Q.
Oh, there are plenty. The Obamas looked at Georgetown Prep and others. The Gore children lived in DC for their entire lives. Some of the children of high ranking officials go to boarding schools, but others tough it out in DC.
Michele Singletary, the famously tight-fisted WaPo personal finance writer, interviewed O’Malley about this. It appears that this is yet another case of parents not holding the financial line when the first kid burst into tears about a dream school. Note what O’Malley has to say about kids #3 and #4:
As we wrapped up our conversation, I asked O’Malley an obvious question. What’s the plan for their sons?
“I hope to make a compelling argument with them to choose more affordable options for their parents,” he said.
If he can’t say no and keep to a budget for his family, how in the world could he be expected to do so for the United States? No, you don’t get to be in charge of my tax dollars because you did a lousy job of managing your own money.
Doesn’t sound like he learned from his mistakes.
“Financial incompetence? $240,00 of Georgetown University education to become a public school teacher in Baltimore.”
That’s not what is going on.
The Georgetown daughter is in Teach for America. TFA recruits very heavily from the Ivies and other fancy colleges. Upwards of 20% of Yale grads apply to TFA each year. TFA is an elite brand (15% acceptance rate) that burnishes a resume just like a Georgetown degree does.
Some TFA-ers do become teachers. More typical is for a year or two of TFA to be followed by a well-paying job in consulting or on Wall Street.
Or attendance at a top law or business school. In which case Marty will be taking out even more loans.
Resume polishing is an expensive sport!
Law or business school might be on the kid’s dime.
I have seen parents give in to their kids. I am not going to condemn the guy. My daughter chose a school that cost $80,000 more over 4 years than another school that accepted her.
Eventually, she couldn’t decide which school to go to between Washington and Michigan with one day to go before the deadline. I told her Washington was $40,000 less than Michigan over 4 years. If you can’t decide, we will fly to Washington in an hour so you can make sure. 
I offered my son $35,000 if he would go to the less expensive school. He said no.
Momzie, there are a couple of other presidential candidates that aren’t financially savvy with their own finances.
Mrs. O went to U of Baltimore law school, Mr. O to Maryland. Hope the daughters can see that the parents were successful are regular old public law schools.
The field of law has changed dramatically since the parents got their JD’s. I wouldn’t be advising a prospective lawyer to get their degree on the cheap these days.
Both schools are not ‘on the cheap.’ I’d say most lawyers working in Baltimore have attended one or the other school… This family made a choice (maybe a bad one) to spend a lot on undergrad so don’t have anything for grad schools.
“Both schools are not ‘on the cheap.’ I’d say most lawyers working in Baltimore have attended one or the other school…”
Sure. But very few lawyers working in NY, Boston, Philly, Chicago, Dallas, LA etc. would have attended those MD-based schools.
While the value of a fancy undergrad degree is debated endlessly, the value of a fancy law school degree is extremely well established.
Non-fancy undergrad + fancy law school > fancy undergrad + non-fancy law school. Fancy followed by fancy works too (but is the most expensive option).
Any job I’ve ever had in law the people surrounding me have gone to an assortment of law schools, but most have gone to the schools in the area where they work. Many people don’t want to live in a different part of the country but are happy to go to school near where they live and settle there too.
It’s still pretty difficult to get into U of Md Law, probably a little less difficult to get into Baltimore. I find it hard to believe that 500 student who enter every year are just wasting their time and money for 3 or 4 years to become beggers on the street. Not everyone wants to work on Wall Street. A lot of people still go to law school to work in criminal law, in wills and trusts, in public law fields, and a lot of them go to U of Md, work in Baltimore, Annapolis, or DC. I never had any desire to work 18 hours a day, and the few times I did it reminded me why I didn’t want to.
Neither of the Omalleys traveled far from home. I knew a lot of multi-generational families who lived in the same homes or next door to each other. It wouldn’t surprise me if the OMalley children intend to stay close to home, so either law school would be fine for their future plans.
Further, the close proximity to DC means that a fair amount of those folks will be employed in federal jobs. So, while certainly not the highest paying jobs, these positions, and they are numerous, offer unheard benefits (relative to the private legal sector) including pension, lifetime family health insurance, and a robust 401K program. A person could certainly do far worse than that…
If you are determined that you really really want to be a lawyer, the choice should be between a top top law school (if you can get in) or one that is very affordable for you (because of reasonable in-state tuition or guaranteed aid). It is all the schmucks in between who get screwed - who go to very expensive mediocre law schools.
Also, some law schools offer great merit aid to first year students, but with a high GPA needed to maintain it. The law schools know statistically that most of the students will not be able to keep the merit aid for the last 2 years, but the students all think they are smart enough to keep a high GPA. As a result, the student’s debt multiples from what they had expected.