Santorum Says He will Home-School Children

[RamboLiberal]

Pittsburgh (AP) Sen. Rick Santorum and his wife will immediately begin home-schooling their five school-age children after they drew criticism from a school board member for sending them to an Internet-based school paid for by taxpayers.

<snip>

The Republican senator said the family will resume homeschooling the children. The change was first reported by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Thursday.

Vecchio, who is also head of the local Democratic committee, said she was thrilled with the senator's decision, but still wants him to pay the district back.

"He's trying to say this is political. This is not political. This is a mother of three in a low-income school district,"
Vechhio said Thursday.

http://kdka.com/topstories/local_story_323100927.html

Santorum Comments on His Children’s Schooling Status

Contact: Christine Shott [phone]
Wednesday, November 17, 2004


Washington, D.C. - Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA), Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, issued the following statement regarding his children’s enrollment in The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School:

“After home schooling our children for five years and annually submitting the voluminous documentation to the Penn Hills School District, we enrolled our children in a public charter school.

“With the approval of the Penn Hills School District, for four years my children attended The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School, while we split time between Pennsylvania and Washington.

“The school district has just informed us that after reviewing our situation, only children who live in a community on a full time basis are eligible to be educated in a public cyber charter school program.

“Karen and I believe it is important for our family to be with me when I am working in Washington; as I always say the most important job I have is as a husband and a father.

“As a result Karen and I have made the decision to immediately withdraw all five of our school-aged children from The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School.

“We will now resume the practice of home schooling our children so that we can travel across Pennsylvania and continue to fulfill my pledge - that I have met every year - to visit each of Pennsylvania’s sixty-seven counties.

“Being able to experience public cyber education firsthand has been a tremendous experience for my family, and I believe that it could be an invaluable experience for many families in Pennsylvania.

“I want to thank the administration of the Penn Hills School District for the courtesy they extended to me during this time."

FOR BACKGROUND PURPOSES ONLY: Senator Santorum will continue to own a home, pay real estate and wage taxes to the school district and municipality of Penn Hills. By home schooling their children for five years prior to sending them to cyber charter school, the Santorums’ saved taxpayers in excess of $80,000 from 1996-2001.

http://santorum.senate.gov/pressreleases/record.cfm?id=...

[bullimiami]

1. He wont home school anyone.

Neither will his wife. Dont be silly.

They will hire private tutors to teach the kids.

[Fleshdancer]

3. That was my first thought as well. n/t

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

2. Good, I don't want his kids tainting anyone else's.

[Surikat]

4. I guess I just don't get it...

Santorum owns property and pays taxes in the district he represents in Congress. Unlike most denizens of DC, he thinks enough of his home state's public school system to want his kids to get an education there.

What IS the problem with these people?

[RamboLiberal]

7. The problem is little Ricky was gaming the system

He buys a cheap property in a distressed school district so he can pay low taxes. He doesn't live there - he lives in Virginia. No one has seen him at the Penn Hills home and in fact two other people live there.

PA rules are if you want the school district to educate your children then they have to live in the school district - i.e. sleep there most of the time.

BTW, Ricky sold his home in Mt. Lebanon which is an old-line wealthy district in PA. I would imagine he did so to save money on taxes.

It wasn't fair to the school district of Penn Hills that while Ricky paid them $2,000 in taxes they were shelling out $38,000 to send his kids in Virginia to a cyber school via the internet.

[Cheswick2.0]

8. Santorum hasn't lived in Pa since he went to congress

the house isn't even big enough for half his family much less all of them.

He was not sending his kids to public school, he was making tax payers foot the bill for a private charter school which leeches funds from public education. Its a racket owned by Marvin Bush and Bill Bennett. He has never sent his kids to public school in pa or anywhere else. He has also stated, back when his kids went to private catholic school, that his kids are only allowed to play with other kids who attended the same school since you never knew how other kids might behave. The man is a piece of shit as a human being.

[gauguin57]

5. The Sanctimonium children don't have an effing chance.

They're already screwed, just growing up in that household with those people.

They will be on the analyst's couch for YEARS!

[HEIL PRESIDENT GOD]

9. Never change the name of Santorum...

Let us always evoke that frothy mixture. (google santorum frothy mixture if you don't know what I'm talking about...)

[bushisanidiot]

6. Maybe the Repukes in Penn. can change the law to accomodate

him. that seems to be what they do with their power nowadays..

[The Spirit of JFK]

10. Doesn't say much about No Child Left Behind

Santorum was all over No Child Left Behind...touting how great it was...how great HE was...putting his more than 2 cents into writing the bill. He also said he was very proud with Pennsylvania's progress under the bill.

Yet, he won't send his kids to public schools. What a hypocrite.