Obama closing door on school choice

On January 5, 2009, Sasha and Malia Obama arrived for their first day of classes at the Sidwell Friends Academy, a private Quaker school that also educated Chelsea Clinton. Tuition is about $30,000 per year per student.

Meanwhile, 2 million other children across the United States were also attending urban faith-based schools. But while Sidwell's ritzy student body assures its financial survival, those other, less fortunate students face a more uncertain future. Since 2000, the number of urban faith-based schools has fallen from 7,200 to 6,000.

Research tells us that students who attend faith-based schools are more likely to graduate from high school, more likely to attend and graduate from college and more likely to have higher incomes. Meanwhile, they are more likely to vote and to be engaged citizens. They'll more likely be more tolerant of diverse views than their publicly educated peers. When those schools close, many of their students are forced to attend failing urban public schools that won't provide them a decent education or a safe learning environment.

No one can blame the Obamas and the Clintons for wanting to give their daughters the best education possible. It's not hypocritical for political leaders to be outspoken proponents of public schools at the same time they want better for their own children.

The problem is when, after escorting their own children arm and arm into a safe and nurturing private school environment, they turn around and lock the door to those who would like to follow. A case in point is the Opportunity Scholarship Program, which provides vouchers of up to $7,500 for low-income students to escape D.C.'s poorly performing, inefficient public schools so they can attend a private school. While $7,500 is a lot of money, it's one-fourth the cost of a Sidwell Friends education and less than a third of the amount ($24,600) that taxpayers spend to educate each D.C. public school student.

Obama wants to end the program, though he would allow currently participating students to graduate. Helping these at-risk students attend superior private schools isn't only good for those students and their families. Public schools that compete with a vibrant private school sector are forced to provide a better education or risk losing students.