Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Good enough for them

Ben Cunningham suggests we turn the tables on politicians regarding school choice.

A thought experiment: what if all the wealthy politicians who tried to send their children to private schools were met at the private school house door by the sheriff and told, "your children are not allowed to go to this private school, your children, Mr wealthy politician, can only go to the public schools."
I'll take this a step further and say 'zoned public school'. There are lots of Nashville movers and shakers who are all pro-public education but many of their children manage to get into magnet, option or design schools or they live in districts where the schools are markedly better than others. So they confidently demonstrate that they're 'for public' education and they and their supporters look down their noses at people who've chosen a private option but they're not really subjecting their children to the run of the mill public school.

My question to them is: Is Maplewood good enough for your child? Is Bailey? If not, why is it good enough for those children whose parents don't have your political clout and connections? What are you doing to hold the school board and the director accountable for schools that too many people cannot leave and the system holds captive?

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