<p>Do’h! What was I saying!! So sorry, Marian. Can I wear Iolani colors while I read cc to make up for the gaffe?</p>
<p>They should go to private school. But allow the rest of America a similar choice via vouchers and charter schools. Much was made in the campaign about Americans having a health care plan similar to what congress has for its members. What about education? Too bad we have to pander to the NEA.</p>
<p>Ha, Ha, Marian and Madbean. Glad you got that straightened out! I have been set straight as well.</p>
<p>They’ve made the choice: Sidwell Friends. See:
[POLITICO</a> 44 | The next president. Minute by Minute](<a href=“http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/1108/back_to_school_3beca662-d1db-465a-902c-fee4285a5d1d.html]POLITICO”>http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/1108/back_to_school_3beca662-d1db-465a-902c-fee4285a5d1d.html)</p>
<p>Why this particular choice? In words that should be familiar to all CC’ers… they “selected the school that was the best fit”</p>
<p>They probably picked it because Sidwell Friends is the school with the most recent experience in meeting the security needs of a president’s child – namely, Chelsea Clinton.</p>
<p>Also, it’s quite a good school. There are other schools in the DC Metro area (both privates and suburban publics – but not DC publics) that could be considered as good as Sidwell Friends, but I don’t think you’ll see anyone arguing that there are any schools that are distinctly better. </p>
<p>The Obamas are not making any kind of academic compromise by sending their daughters to Sidwell Friends.</p>
<p>I thought it was cute when I read that the girls have become good friends with Biden’s grandchildren, who also attend Sidwell. Good to know they’ll know someone going in.</p>
<p>You have to bet there are all sorts of seething parents who have had kids on that waiting list for 5 years! I don’t begrudge the lovely girls a thing, but anyone who’s ever gone through the admissions process at a similar school is wondeing how on earth this could happen in a few weeks!</p>
<p>hmom5, you’re kidding, right. I think the other parents can figure out how the school could make room for the President-elect’s daughters.</p>
<p>I wasn’t accepted to Sidwell many years ago, when the son of a congressman was. That’s the way it is in DC. I applied in an off year though (8th grade) and the next year my parents didn’t even consider it as they realized they needed a place that offered boarding as well. But dh and his family including a nephew all attended. It’s a very good school though we actually had an easier time getting accommodations in math (in our local public) for our oldest than our nephew did at Sidwell.</p>
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<p>They’ll probably get over those two easily enough. I grew up an Air Force kid, and the longest I ever stayed in one place before moving and transferring to another school was two years (3rd and 4th grades). I was perpetually leaving old towns and friends and once again becoming the new kid in class. You get used to it. There are far worse childhood traumas.</p>
<p>To make an issue of the choice of the Obama children is DC is ridiculous. If it was not an issue during the campaign, why would it be one … today?</p>
<p>Obama’s positions on education are known, and it would have been much more interesting to understand why the past Chairman of the Annenberg Challenge did not choose a public school for his children before he was more than an afterthought in national policies. Perhaps Obama could have picked a public school as he watched the waste of more than 150,000,000 to improve the Chicago schools or simply call his friends at the Small Schools Project. </p>
<p>Obama does not deserve criticism for today’s choice and his children deserve the best education (or best fit) they can get. Unfortunately, many of the programs he has supported so far and will continue to support for the next four years ensure that an enormous number of students will not be as lucky as the Obama kids. </p>
<p>The best one could hope is that every report card he reads from the Friends schools will serve as a poignant reminder of the different fate of the millions of children that are subject and harmed in our wonderful public school system. Perhaps he should also use his time in Washington to understand why he COULD NOT send his daughters to a downtown DC public school and evaluate the exact cost of the DC public education tomfoolery.</p>
<p>Fight’s over … they chose Sidwell Friends.</p>
<p>Xiggi, I don’t think anyone here has been critical. I for one, don’t mean to be, but I do think it’s worth discussing why those who serve the public are not educating the kids in the schools they can impact. Things might change must faster if they walk the walk.</p>
<p>Burn This, I think you’ll find that those on the waitlist at DC schools are in general wealthy or connected. Trust me, those folks don’t understand any kids getting in before their own.</p>
<p>hmom5 - do you have a better idea of how to send those two girls to school in the most secure and safest facility possible? I’m sure had the Obamas known five years ago that they might be moving to D.C., they would have gone through the application process like every other family.</p>
<p>Well, hmom5, if you know any of those waitlisted parents… a space in the 2nd grade has just opened up over at Georgetown Day. See:[My</a> Pals Sasha and Malia - The Daily Beast](<a href=“http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-11-15/my-pals-sasha-and-malia-1/]My”>The Daily Beast: The Latest in Politics, Media & Entertainment News)
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<p>Calmom, DC’s a small town and news travels fast, I’m sure the parents of a lot of second graders are presently camped out at GDS!</p>
<p>Teriwtt, I do appreciate the Obama’s position. </p>
<p>As a parent, I too would do what was absolutely best for my children. Plus, as someone who sent my own 3 to private school I have nothing bad to say about them choosing one. </p>
<p>That said, I think it would be very hard to look the average American in the face and tell them I will change the education situation while choosing to send my kid to an elite private out of the reach of most and I wonder why Carter is the only president in recent memory to feel that way. I really thought Obama, as a candidate “of the people” would follow Carter’s example.</p>
<p>FYI, I started this thread after my secretary, a young black mom looking at schools for her first, expressed her disappointment that the Obama’s seemed to be headed towards private schools.</p>
<p>hmom5 --as a parent of 2 public school educated kids, I really couldn’t disagree with you more. It’s just a matter of safety, security, & privacy. I’m glad I sent my kids to public school, but they were ordinary kids who could safely walk home from school or visit the homes of their classmates. Its been reported that Amy Carter was forced to stay indoors at recess at her public school-- the Secret Service felt the school’s playground was too exposed. I don’t think Carter set a good example by making his kid suffer the consequences of what was ultimately a selfish, “politically correct” decision. I mean – as a mother of a daughter I know that the question that is uppermost on Sasha & Malia’s minds is whether they will be able to make friends and get along with the other kids at their school.</p>
<p>Calmom, I do see your point. But I don’t see why private schools are inherently safer. Maybe the Carter’s chose poorly?</p>
<p>The friendship issue is an interesting one. The biggest regret I have about not having had the option of a decent public school for my own kids is how narrow their groups of friends are having attended elite private schools all of their lives. DH and I grew up in public schools with a wide range of friends who are lifelong friends. When I look at my children’s facebook friends I cringe a little that the vast majority of them are at a narrow handful of schools. We see their limited perspectives creep up no matter how hard we worked to make that not be the case.</p>
<p>hmom5:</p>
<p>I think the safety thing has to do with the layout of the schools. As I understand it, many of these private schools are set back away from the road and have a perimeter of property around them that also belongs to the school. Many of the public schools are set right up against the road, which would expose the girls to photography or (God forbid) gunfire. I believe there’s also a sense that a private school that is used to catering to the powerful and wealthy may be more willing to work with the security detail that is sure to accompany the girls to school.</p>
<p>I do get the latter part of your post shades, but here in NYC private schools are in general no more set back than public schools. I understand in the suburbs private schools might have bigger campuses, but I also know of many suburban publics with amazing set back spaces. I don’t know the DC schools, but are the publics all on busy streets?</p>