Former Sidewell school parent: Some public schools are better

[Mefistofeles]

Washington Post
September 27, 2010

By Jay Mathews | September 27

Obama is wrong about D.C. schools

President Obama told NBC interviewer Matt Lauer on Monday that there was not a public school in Washington that matched the education his daughters are getting at Sidwell Friends, a private school. As a former Sidwell parent (I lost a family vote to send our daughter to a public school) and a longtime observer of the D.C. public schools, I think he is wrong.

Sidwell has fine teachers and high standards, but like all private and public schools it also had some mediocre teachers and some blind spots -- such as its reluctance to challenge some students because it would be wrong, as a teacher there once told me, to make them "uncomfortable."

The District does not have many public schools as good as Sidwell, but there are some that set the same high standards and have teachers just as good. Several elementary schools in Northwest Washington, which attract affluent families like the Obamas, match Sidwell. Deal Middle School and Wilson High School, into which those schools feed, are also just as good in every important way. There are also at least two other public high schools that match Sidwell, the School Without Walls and Banneker The Obama girls would have to apply to get in. I suspect both would be accepted.

The president, I think, realized his mistake at the end of his answer and said he thought he could have found as good a public school for his daughters if he had done some "maneuvering." That is a better answer. I hope he will correct his first shot at the question when he gets a chance.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/class-struggle/2010/09/obama_was_wrong_about_dc_schoo.html

[DJ13]

1. I think Obama shouldnt have used this to skewer public schools

The actual case is that its probably easier to maintain security for the President's daughters in Sidewell than in a public school.

I know he wanted to personalize his agenda against public schools, but that was the answer he should have given.

[Starry Messenger]

2. I spent my k-12 years half in public, half in private.

I much preferred public.

[dkf]

3. Not in reputation.

The bad public schools give all public schools a bad name.

[onenote]

4. it appears that mr mathews and the president agree

They both acknowledge that there are some individual schools in DC that are as good as Sidwell.

So why exactly does Mathews say the President is "wrong" about DC schools?