Why Do Politicians Blow Up When Asked Where They Send Their Own Kids to School?

Rahm Emanuel, the new Mayor of Chicago, walks out of an NBC interview when asked when asked what school he intends to enroll his children in. He intones: "My children are not an instrument of me being mayor." But everyone else's children are. Check out the video here and below.

If the report in the Washington Post's Answer Sheet is correct, he has chosen the Lab School, where Obama sent his own kids, where Duncan went to school himself, and where they will likely receive small classes, a well-rounded education and little high-stakes testing, the opposite of the regime he has chosen for Chicago's public schoolchildren.

See also NJ Gov. Chris Christie's similar response in a video below, when asked this question in conjunction with his decision to cut public school funding.

Perhaps their sensitivity relates to their fear that people will catch on to what Patrick Sullivan has called the "condescension" of the ruling class, who insist on one sort of education for their own kids and something entirely different for everyone else's children. See also this piece by Mike Winerip, or this one that I wrote on class bias and class size.

View more videos at: http://www.nbcchicago.com.

 

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Comments

[hsspringman]

11:43 AM on 07/27/2011

The article states that he is sending them to a lab school. Lab schools here are public schools with a direct relationship with a local University. They do not charge a tuition as they are public schools with a limited enrollment and require application.

[DeuxExMachina]

08:19 PM on 07/27/2011

From the Uni. of Chicago Lab school website:

http://www.ucls.uchicago.edu/admission/tuition/index.aspx

Grade Yearly Tuition
Nursery School
(Half Day) $14,814

Nursery/Kindergarten
(Full Day) $21,060

Grades 1 - 4 $21,876
Grades 5 - 8 $23,676
Grades 9 - 12 $24,870

The Mayor might even be receiving tution allowance for his children as part of his on-the-job benefits package.

[DeuxExMachina]

09:02 PM on 07/26/2011

By sending his children to private schools the Mayor is implicitly indicating that the public school system he is in charged of is inadequate. In that case, until the public school system for Chicago is sorted out, vouchers should be provided to parents of children who want them that can be used at any accredited school whether it be public, charter, private or parochial.

[Joseph Schmoe]

07:41 AM on 07/25/2011

By the way...you want to blame teachers for all of society's ills. You insult them, strip them of raises, pensions, health care benefits. Saddle them with limited budgets, overcrowded classes. And then stand back and complain about how ineffective public education is.
Congratulations. You have inherited the wind.

[Kris W]

03:00 AM on 07/27/2011

Maybe we want the entire educational system as it is(teachers and all) to collapse in on itself? Many of us seen first hand how the educational "all girl's club" intentionally discriminates against boy's and young men.

If teachers are only willing to teach half the students they should either a) find a job at a girl's only school or b) be prepared to accept only half of their paychecks!

[Joseph Schmoe]

07:38 AM on 07/25/2011

Why are people still suprised when politicians of all stripes continue to demonstrate their disdain for us and our children?

[Larry Strauss]

11:13 PM on 07/24/2011

At the height of the cold war, Norman Mailer suggested that the family of the US president should be required to live in Moscow while the premiere of the Soviet Union should have to live in Washington -- an extra level of protection against a quick nuclear trigger finger. Would politicians really do more for public schools if their own children had to attend them? Perhaps. Does anyone know of a big city mayor or governor who sends his or her children to public school?

[bryan1237]

02:23 PM on 07/24/2011

In addition what does it matter that the school he chose was a private school? What he chose was the best school available. What if that school had of been a highly performing district school? Would one criticize him for choosing a highly performing district school of choice over an average or below average zoned school? The discussion should be about how we can ensure that every parent has the same power to choose as he does as if your only choices are lousy ones then there is no choice.

[OneVoiceInFL]

09:18 PM on 07/24/2011

If it had been a high performing district school, then the question it would have raised would have been, why does he have the privilege of choosing which school his children attend, when others are required to attend the school for which they are zoned or apply for a lottery school (If there are any in Chicago... I don't know because I'm not a Chicago resident). The way I see it, the journalist asked the wrong question. It's really not important which school Emanuel is sending his children to, but rather why he doesn't feel the public schools are appropriate for his children, and what are the qualities of the chosen school that he feels make it a better fit for his kids. That question would be more on point.

[eceresa]

07:58 AM on 07/25/2011

If all of the parents from the "worst" school in Chicago suddenly had their kids moved to Emanuel's kids' school (I was going to say "were allowed to move their kids," but that group probably wouldn't have wanted to take the trouble if it was just an option), the Lab School would suddenly be the worst school in Chicago. One of the things that clouds the issue is that the quality of the school is mostly decided by the family and out-of-school situation of the kids that go there.

[bryan1237]

01:55 PM on 07/24/2011

The better response Rahm Emanuel, the new Mayor of Chicago could have given would have been that he has chosen to send his children to the best school available and that he did not care whether it is a district, charter, or private school and that as a parent it is his sole responsibility to ensure that his children are well educated. And that as the Mayor of Chicago he will do everything in his power to ensure that the parents of Chicago have the same power to choose to send their children to excellent schools whether those schools be district, charter, or private schools.

[mrnormalpants]

11:47 AM on 07/24/2011

Didn't seem like a blow up to me. Rahm doesn't like the job CPS are doing, which he has made pretty clear. He's trying to change the job that they're doing with methods that a lot of people here and elsewhere disagree with, but he's made it a priority nonetheless. His response was pretty rude, but so was the repeated questioning.

So he doesn't think public schools are the best, decides to send children to a private school that he thinks is better, and then doesn't want to say in an interview which school his children go to. Why is this considered a blow-up?

[Herm]

10:07 AM on 07/24/2011

Move along, folks, nothing to see here - that is not seen nationwide, perhaps universally. To qualify as a big shot, one must act like a big shot. Begin with private school education. Good a place as any.

[Lori Day]

09:57 AM on 07/24/2011

It sure is nice up in those ivory towers. The air is cool, it's not crowded, and you can see for miles. The problem is you can't see what's going on down on the ground. Quite a perch for this kind of decision making.

[GlennWatson]

10:39 PM on 07/23/2011

I just watched the video. That was some big time practiced self righteousness. Only a Democrat can pull that off with a straight face.

[OneVoiceInFL]

09:12 PM on 07/24/2011

I have to disagree with you on that. Republicans are equally as good at self-righteousness. Chris Christie's response was just as "good." Democrat... Republican... doesn't matter. It goes with being a politician.

[eceresa]

07:59 AM on 07/25/2011

Did you have a straight face while typing this?

[GlennWatson]

10:36 PM on 07/23/2011

Why Do Politicians Blow Up When Asked Where They Send Their Own Kids to School?>>>

Because they hate being caught.

[frdafury]

03:27 PM on 07/23/2011

"Do as I say, not as I do" Funny, I heard those words listening to the "new" mayor speak about what his intentions were for his own children. And if any politician in this day and age doesn't think their wives or progeny are not part of the public personae that they exist in, why are all of the above trotted out regularly for any event that family is pertinent? Seems another hypocritical politician has arrived. Also, I love how Rahm realized he made a mistake at the .39 second spot when he "clarifies" for the reporter the difference between a "value statement and not a policy". Since when is a child's education in the general public not a value statement? Is value only available for the Mayor's children and not all the constituents? According to Rahm "the king" Emanual, I guess it is.

[Ghoulish]

12:34 PM on 07/23/2011

Let's stop fooling ourselves. If a private school is producing better students it is because the greater population of their students are dedicated learners. It's not because the teachers are better. One of the biggest problems in public education is the allowance of disruptive behavior. Teachers cannot teach when they are babysitting a bunch of rowdy kids who couldn't care less about an education (and their parents couldn't care less about being involved in disciplining OR educating them either). I would gladly send my kids back to public school if their education wasn't constantly being disrupted by other students; and I know many, many parents who would do the same. I imagine many politicians feel this way too.

[eceresa]

10:58 AM on 07/24/2011

Which will have better employees: the workplace with strict hiring standards put in place by law, or the workplace with no standards?

Which group will be better runners: the group that runs uphill ten miles every day, or the group that has an easy half-mile walk?

I think the teachers in public schools are better than those in private schools. They pretty much have to be. But I expect the classmates are usually better in private schools. If private-school parents are knowledgeable and honest, they realize that they're paying for worse teachers but better classmates. And I can't say they're necessarily getting a bad deal.

[DeuxExMachina]

12:12 AM on 07/27/2011

Your assertion that the public school teachers are better than those in private schools is not even supported in this website. If in doubt, just look at the stories on public schools today at:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/education/

Creationism to be taught in Texas SCIENCE class???
School Closed After Teacher And Principal Smoked Meth, Cops Say
The 5 Most Shocking Public School Cheating Scandals
Atlanta's Mass Exodus: About 30 More Quit Amid Cheating Scandal
New Orleans Schools: A Nexus Of Poverty, High Expulsion Rates, Hyper-security And Novice Teachers
etc

[Dayne]

11:50 PM on 07/22/2011

What are politicians are saying is, "What's good for the goose . . . is not good for the gander." This is just like the Health Care Reform or a multitude of other "perks" our politicians vote for themselves or use their influence to obtain.