Obamas Choose Elite Private School for Kids

[xsited1]

I'm pretty sure they have a great plan... probably way better than my husband's plan even though he's a Fed employee, too.

But I'd say some of it has to do with the same type of mentality that causes a repub senator to object to block TSO's from having collective bargaining rights.

That's right. Their plans are much better than any government employee.

Salaries and Benefits of U.S. Congress Members

 

[xsited1]

I'm pretty sure they have a great plan... probably way better than my husband's plan even though he's a Fed employee, too.

But I'd say some of it has to do with the same type of mentality that causes a repub senator to object to block TSO's from having collective bargaining rights.

That's why some Americans, like myself, call them elitists.

 

[Vel]

It is absolutely not my *opinion* that the people who support vouchers do so because they want a back door means of funding parochial school education. Look at WHO supports vouchers. Ask why. Plus, many, if not most, of the arguments surrounding school vouchers deal with the Constitutionality of funding parochial schools.

This article actually sets out all arguments in a fairly cogent manner.

CYD: School Vouchers

And of course vouchers would destroy public schools. All the funding that goes to make better schools would be diverted away from public education.

And given your last comment about it being "left to the states", I doubt we'd agree on the purpose of government in any event....which is why I left room for the "drown government in a bathtub" types in my argument.

As a final note, I am far from paranoid. I do, however, believe we must zealously protect against religion infringing on government and government infringing on religion.... particularly where it comes to education of easily-influenced children. And I really dislike disingenuous arguments about things not being what they clearly are. It's the old Willie Nelson line, "what are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?"

I appreciate your response though.

BTW, for what it is worth, I have to admit a bias toward public education. One, I have no desire to spend in excess of $20,000 a year for a private school education for a middle school student. Two, I got a great public school education through high school and then went to a State University. Three, and finally, my son gets an amazing middle school education where he is. Getting to the point where we knew what school accepted him was torturous (and that's a topic for a whole other discussion) but he would never get an education like he is, which is geared for G&T kids, but with a diversity we would never find in private school and the Federal Funding because of that diversity is what adds an incredible afterschool program and other benefits of the public school education he's getting.

So you'll forgive me if for the next six or so years, this is going to be a very big issue for me.

Then we'll start talking about student loans/grants/ and the cost of college.

I looked over your article and didn't see anything to convince me that your argument that most people support vouchers as a way to fund parochial schools is anything more than opinion. Ten different people could easily have ten different reasons for why they support school vouchers.

Would vouchers destroy public schools? I don't know if they would destroy it but they certainly would force some changes. As the public schools in Washington D.C. prove, throwing money into a school system isn't enough to guarantee a quality education.

It's nice that you're satisfied with the quality of your son's public school. It sounds as if your son was fortunate enough to get into a "magnet" school. How about all those children in your district that weren't as fortunate as your son? Those students who are just stuck with whatever schools they're zoned for? Would you feel that your son was getting an excellent education if there were no gifted and talented program available for him? Don't you think that all of the students in your district would benefit from an education geared towards G/T?

 

[WillowTree]

That's why some Americans, like myself, call them elitists.

Holy shit! We pay that idiot Nancy Pelosi $217,000 a year to destroy this country!

 

[DiveCon]

Assuming the woefully uninformed Isolde is even a homeowner, what he's really asking for is a massive handout from the government.

Schools are overwhelmingly funded by property taxes. And only about 50% of property taxes are diverted to school funding.

What does the average person actually pay a year in property taxes? A couple grand?

So Isolde, wants the government to make up the difference, and give him over 25,000 dollars for a private school.

Good luck with trying to get that hand out dude.

wow, i nominate this post as the most ironic on the board to date

 

[WillowTree]

wow, i nominate this post as the most ironic on the board to date

yep! it's funny how the tunes changed since the election innit?

 

[DiveCon]

Actually, he is using a government health plan. Fancy that. But you know this thread is silly, Gem.

yeah, but its NOTHING like what you would get
and never will be

 

[Silence]

That's why some Americans, like myself, call them elitists.

so anyone who aspires to and achieves the goal of working in Congress or to the Presidency is automatically an elitist, regardless of their upbringing and values?

I don't think sending your children to private school makes you an elitist, not by itself anyway. There is an entire behavior and attitude that makes someone an elitist. Usually it entails generations of spoon fed privilege and wealth, never really having to work for anything and/or never actually working for anything but getting certain thing by benefit of your birth.

Such as Bush and McCain. Both of these men are gross underachievers yet they've achieved things that most people can't even imagine by virtue of which family they were born into.

Obama on the other hand was born into a family of working class people to a mother who was barely 19 and who was married to an African student. By virtue of his birth Obama has had NOTHING just handed to him, in fact, he's probably had to work twice as hard to achieve just as much.

He and his wife do not appear to live outside the comfort of their incomes, which admittedly are way above middle class (to their own admission). They own one home and apparently one car. They do not appear to have nannies and/or designer clothing draped on their backs. They don't, as far as I know, own a ranch which they will vacation at regularly during his Presidency either. Hell, do they even own a vacation "home" and if not where will they vacation? I mean, gasp, might we actually have a President who isn't out of Washington on vacation for 20% of his time in office?

 

[WillowTree]

so anyone who aspires to and achieves the goal of working in Congress or to the Presidency is automatically an elitist, regardless of their upbringing and values?

I don't think sending your children to private school makes you an elitist, not by itself anyway. There is an entire behavior and attitude that makes someone an elitist. Usually it entails generations of spoon fed privilege and wealth, never really having to work for anything and/or never actually working for anything but getting certain thing by benefit of your birth.

Such as Bush and McCain. Both of these men are gross underachievers yet they've achieved things that most people can't even imagine by virtue of which family they were born into.

Obama on the other hand was born into a family of working class people to a mother who was barely 19 and who was married to an African student. By virtue of his birth Obama has had NOTHING just handed to him, in fact, he's probably had to work twice as hard to achieve just as much.

He and his wife do not appear to live outside the comfort of their incomes, which admittedly are way above middle class (to their own admission). They own one home and apparently one car. They do not appear to have nannies and/or designer clothing draped on their backs. They don't, as far as I know, own a ranch which they will vacation at regularly during his Presidency either. Hell, do they even own a vacation "home" and if not where will they vacation? I mean, gasp, might we actually have a President who isn't out of Washington on vacation for 20% of his time in office?

what a bunch of pure unadulterated bullshit..

 

[aztech]

what a bunch of pure unadulterated bullshit..

 

[jillian]

yeah, but its NOTHING like what you would get
and never will be

Right.

I'm just wondering why this is suddenly an issue now. Have the rules suddenly been changed?

Frankly, that's life, though. People take huge pay cuts to work for government over private sector. Getting health care in exchange is one of the benefits of taking that kind of pay cut. I don't wast a lot of time thinking about it. Now... the fact that TSO's are the only people who work for the DHS who aren't allowed collective bargaining bothers me way more.

 

[DiveCon]

Right.

I'm just wondering why this is suddenly an issue now. Have the rules suddenly been changed?

Frankly, that's life, though. People take huge pay cuts to work for government over private sector. Getting health care in exchange is one of the benefits of taking that kind of pay cut. I don't wast a lot of time thinking about it. Now... the fact that TSO's are the only people who work for the DHS who aren't allowed collective bargaining bothers me way more.

traffic signal operators?

 

[Skull Pilot]

so anyone who aspires to and achieves the goal of working in Congress or to the Presidency is automatically an elitist, regardless of their upbringing and values?

I don't think sending your children to private school makes you an elitist, not by itself anyway. There is an entire behavior and attitude that makes someone an elitist. Usually it entails generations of spoon fed privilege and wealth, never really having to work for anything and/or never actually working for anything but getting certain thing by benefit of your birth.

Such as Bush and McCain. Both of these men are gross underachievers yet they've achieved things that most people can't even imagine by virtue of which family they were born into.

Obama on the other hand was born into a family of working class people to a mother who was barely 19 and who was married to an African student. By virtue of his birth Obama has had NOTHING just handed to him, in fact, he's probably had to work twice as hard to achieve just as much.

He and his wife do not appear to live outside the comfort of their incomes, which admittedly are way above middle class (to their own admission). They own one home and apparently one car. They do not appear to have nannies and/or designer clothing draped on their backs. They don't, as far as I know, own a ranch which they will vacation at regularly during his Presidency either. Hell, do they even own a vacation "home" and if not where will they vacation? I mean, gasp, might we actually have a President who isn't out of Washington on vacation for 20% of his time in office?

The one thing that I want to insist on is that, as I travel around the country, the American people are a decent people. Now they get confused sometimes. You know, they listen to the wrong talk radio shows or watch the wrong TV networks, um, but they’re, they’re basically decent, they’re basically sound.”

yeah a democrat like obama would never say anything to indicate he was an elitist.

BTW are you making sure you're watching all the right news networks?

We wouldn't want you to get confused now would we?

 

[Cecilie1200]

I realize I have eviscerated every argument you've made on every thread in which we've participated.

I have REALLY got to go find a smiley somewhere for laughing until I throw up. I think the doctor really needs to up your dosage of anti-psychotics, toots, because the hallucinations are coming back.

But let me once again, educate you. One: The ignorant loony toons who are complaining about this are proving once again why the right is out of power. You're even embarrassing RGS.

Wow, that was certainly an education . . . in how much time lunatics can waste if you let them.

The only "let them eat cake" attitude I have seen is over the past 8 years when the repubs raped our treasury; spent money that we did not have for an unnecessary war of choice; allowed thousands of our troops to die for that unnecessary war of choice and allowed the VP to make energy policy in a backroom with the lobbyists and CEO's from auto and oil companies.... I could go on and talk about perverting our justice system with a gulag in Cuba and unconstitutional signing statements, but I figure that's above your paygrade.

You do go on and on . . . and it's always gibberish and nonsense. Ahh, the penurious left, those great champions of penny-pinching and fiscal responsibility. Oh, for the good old days, when the left was in charge and stubbornly holding the principled line of small government, limited spending, and balanced budgets with absolutely no pork whatsoever.



I'm sorry, I SIMPLY couldn't go on with a straight face. I swear, I don't have dreams like that after eating pizza with everything, pickles, and ice cream. Whatever your condition is, I bet it has a lot of syllables and is really hard to pronounce.

But mostly, why on earth would I care that Obama's kids are going to private school? Barbara Bush went to Yale as a legacy. Who cares? And more to the point, you don't care either but to whine and complain. If they'd sent the girls to public school, you'd have talked about how they're using their kids to pretend to be populist. So keep your faux outrage to yourself.

Ah, there it is. "I don't know what your point is, and I will NEVER know what the point is, no matter how many times it's explained to me, because BUSH IS EVIL! It's all about Bush!!!! Yaaaaarrgh!!!!"

You have once again cleverly decimated my attempts to hide the fact that the entire universe revolves around George W. Bush.

Why would you think you know WHAT I think from the 10 minutes you've been here during which time, you've actually united left-wingers and right-wingers who are equally appalled by your posts?

Why would you think I think that you think? As for the rest of this waste of space, 1) I couldn't care less whether anyone is "appalled", because only lamers like you spend their lives worrying about being popular, let alone being popular with a bunch of strangers on the Internet, and 2) I no more believe that you have your finger on the pulse of what "everyone" thinks than I believe that you think. Oh, and 3) I'd rather have people be appalled by my posts than have them laughing hysterically and derisively, the way they do at you. Tell the truth. The neighborhood kids refer to you as "the cat lady" and throw rocks at you, don't they?

But to answer your question, when did I become a proponent of earning one's way? Well, once again, you know nothing but pretend to know a lot. Not that it's any of your business, but since you keep making these really ignorant assertions, it's time to make you a little less clueless. I happen to have earned MY way, being the daughter of one of those self-made types who grew up poor and through sheer smarts and determination became successful. I worked my butt off to have the things I have and I don't live particularly lavish existence because I made a CHOICE to downsize my career so I could spend more time with my son. I don't regret that one iota. But amazingly, I have a decent place to live, a good job, and a great kid who amazes me every day. I have to admit, though, to liking nice restaurants and nice cars.... because I EARNED them. I also have to admit that the one luxury I DO hope to be able to provide is an Ivy League school for my son if he earns that. Because damn right you send your kids to the best possible schools you can and that they can get into.

In other words, five minutes ago when someone suggested that the Great and Powerful Obama was wrong, and five minutes from now, you'll be back to being a proponent of wealth distribution because someone has suggested that His Holiness is wrong about THAT.

You're as transparent as a pane of glass, and just about as deep.

None of which precludes me thinking that people deserve a leg up sometimes because maybe they come from parents who DON'T value education or can't do any better than working at Wal-Mart or who don't have the wherewithal to help their kids achieve.

"A leg up" being defined as "anything that doesn't actually help them or their kids get ahead and have better lives, but allows the Mighty Obama and his compatriots, to whose asses my lips are permanently attached, as much power and control as they want". Give 'em bread and circuses, but for GOD'S sake, don't let anyone's children be well-educated and have a future except for Obama and the other elites.

And, mostly, none of this has anything to do with where the president-elect and his wife chose to send their children to school.

Yes, the college that George W. Bush went to is MIGHTILY relevant and important to all discussions, but it's just bewildering how anyone could think that simply because Obama has publicly praised the wonders of public school for everyone else's children, while heartily denouncing the idea of allowing people to take those tax dollars and choose the best schools for their kids, that should mean he's a hypocrite for not educating his OWN children that way. WHERE would anyone get THAT idea? As though the way leftists live their own lives has any relation to the policies they espouse for others. How silly.

This is Just more pathetic whining from the folk who pissed power away because they forgot the world isn't radical right wing and that there's more out there than "the base".

Lalala, not listening, not listening, Obama is wonderful, no one's hearing nothing.

No hypocrisy here. Just continued ignorance on your part as has been shown with every post you've made on every subject you've chosen to speak about.

You're right. You'd need at least fifty more IQ points to aspire to hypocrisy. At the moment, you're still stuck on "idiocy".

That doesn't even make sense. Just more judgmental wingnut tripe from you...

"There. I have successfully dismissed any and all attacks on the Great Obama, cleverly managing to hear and understand nothing - aided greatly by the fact that I'm so ignorant and delusional that words of over two syllables lose me, anyway - and I will now return to my padded cell and comfortable afternoon dose of Thorazine."

FLUSH!

 

[Gem]

jillian wrote:

Actually, he is using a government health plan. Fancy that. But you know this thread is silly, Gem.

You don't honestly believe that if we all had government health care, that the care you and your children would receive would be anywhere near the level and quality of care that our senators and President (and his family) would receive? Come on, Jill, I credit you with far more intelligence than that...

As far as this thread is concerned...I have no issue with Obama placing his children in expensive private school. If I had children and his amount of wealth, and was living in an area with such deplorable public schools...I would too. Conservatives have nothing against Democrats or Liberals spending their money however they choose...its when they spend their money on whatever they want while forbidding or condemning others for wanting to do the same thing. (Whether Obama is doing that or not in this instance...is up for debate.)

I think, however, you're missing what the people on the thread are trying to say...or perhaps they are saying it badly...

The irony isn't that a wealthy man is putting his privileged children in an expensive private school over the crappy public education system...its the a Democrat - who was elected in large part by harping on how we all were equal and needed to be treated equally...who doesn't support a single-mother in D.C. saying "wow, the public school my child attends is utter crap...I'm taking the $16,000 the gov't claims to spend on my kid...and investing it in a school that actually works."

The voucher idea, from many peoples perspective, has nothing (read it again, NOTHING) to do with creating a state-religion...but rather with adding some MUCH NEEDED competition into the education market. Public Education would have to make REAL, SUBSTANTIVE CHANGES that actually WORK if parents had the CHOICE to pull their children out and put them into schools that work.

Educators, like myself, could state - "You know, I'm fed up with not being allowed to remove a child from my classroom for cursing...or not doing work. I'm going to look for a school where the kids (and their parents) either want to be there and do the work...or they get out.

Parents could choose whether that stricter model was for them and their children...or whether they wanted an educational program based entirely on treating children like adults...or an educational program based entirely on mountain-biking...if there was a need, a school could exist for it.

Right now, people without Obama's bank account are left with the choice of the crappy public school....or, in many cases, nothing. And I think people here are amused that while he talks a good game about giving the middle class help and choices...he seems to have quite a few (what school to choose) while not allowing (by his lack of support for a voucher system) others to have any choice at all but a failing system.

Now...where I come in is that until I see what the Obama administration is planning on doing to fix public education...I'm willing to not feel one way or the other about where his children go to school.

He has claimed that he is ardently devoted to encouraging and demanding parental involvement in their child's education. I think this is the #1 issue facing our educational system today. I have no clue how he thinks hes going to do it and honestly....I'm not at all hopeful...but I'll give him a chance before I start calling him a hypocrite about education.

 

[jillian]

traffic signal operators?

Transportation Security Officers... the guys who try to make sure that people can't fly planes into bulidings anymore.

 

[Silence]

what a bunch of pure unadulterated bullshit..

The Failed Corporate Record of George W. Bush

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_life_and_military_career_of_John_McCain

McCain graduated 5th from the Bottom of his class and crashed how many planes before the final crash which landed him in the POW camp?

Like I said...gross underachievers who without the virture of the silver spoon stuck up their butts wouldn't have accomplished anything compared to what was handed to them.

 

[jillian]

wow, i nominate this post as the most ironic on the board to date

You can nominate, of course, but it's not even close.

 

[Cecilie1200]

It's funny how politicians have their own healthcare and retirement plans paid with tax dollars. Why is that?

Same reason they're exempt from many of the laws they think are SUCH a good idea for the rest of us, like minimum wage, Social Security . . .

 

[Silence]

The one thing that I want to insist on is that, as I travel around the country, the American people are a decent people. Now they get confused sometimes. You know, they listen to the wrong talk radio shows or watch the wrong TV networks, um, but they’re, they’re basically decent, they’re basically sound.”

yeah a democrat like obama would never say anything to indicate he was an elitist.

BTW are you making sure you're watching all the right news networks?

We wouldn't want you to get confused now would we?

yeah, that couldn't possibly be a joke aimed at the right wing radio talk shows or Fox news now could it?