School choice and the government subsidy thereof is certainly a hot button issue, so as the school year began a few weeks ago the National Post’s Malkin Dare questioned the sensibility of public officials sending their children to private school while all the while supporting a system that he argues limits school choice. His argument is compelling, citing Barack and Michelle Obama’s decision to send their daughters to an expensive private school instead of their neighbourhood public school, while at the same time Obama is trying to help eliminate Washington D.C.’s school voucher program.
Dare’s basic argument is that Obama – and others – are unwilling to sacrifice their children’s education for their political ideals, thereby during themselves into hypocrites. I don’t know for sure, but I can imagine one of Obama’s responses might be that voucher programs serve to make poor schools poorer; they only improve school choice for those who can afford to get their children to their non-neighbourhood school.
But still, it’s worth taking a moment to reflect. “If you are a parent who has sent, or is sending, a child to a school other than the assigned public school but still favours one public school system for all,” Dare says, “take a moment to consider the contradictory nature of your position.”
Dare’s final message for the parents who fit this category goes like this: “You are supporting a system in which some lucky families are able to choose better schools for their children while denying the same freedom to less fortunate families. That’s just not fair.”
The reality is that some schools are better than others and parents want the best for their children. That means some parents seek out an alternative to their neighbourhood school – whether in the public or private realm – and that makes sense. Whether some of those parents are being hypocritical is less clear to me.
But what I would like to see from Dare is his recommendation. How can parents get the best education for their children, but not be hypocritical in his eyes?
I think all parents should try to get the best education for their children – that’s certainly what my husband and I did. Hypocrisy enters the picture when parents try to get the best education for their children BUT SUPPORT POLICIES THAT PREVENT OTHER PARENTS FROM DOING THE SAME THING. Every parent who chooses a better education for his or her child ought to, at the same time, support policies – like tuition tax credits, magnet schools, school vouchers, and charter schools – that make it possible for all parents to choose from a wide array of school choices for their children.