[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/11/19/art.obama.family.b.gi.jpg caption=" Should the Obama children attend public or private school?"]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The nation's president-elect will be confronting arguably the toughest set of problems this country has been faced with in a very long time. The economy is in crisis, the treasury is broke, Americans are losing their jobs and we're fighting two wars. It's heady stuff but at the end of the day, one of the biggest decisions Barack and Michelle Obama are going to have to make is where to send those two delightful little girls to school.
It's a decision many parents wrestle with all the time: Public or private? Public schools tend to more closely resemble the real world, while private schools provide a more insulated and, in most cases, intellectually-challenging environment. But Sasha and Malia aren't just any two kids moving to Washington from Chicago and trying to find a new school. When they head off for their first day of class, the world will be watching and the Secret Service will go with them. Michelle Obama says she wants to be the nation's "first mom." Where to send these two kids to school will be one of the biggest decisions she has to make. And no matter what the Obamas decide, the nation will be watching and clucking like a bunch of hens no matter where they go to school.
Here’s my question to you: Should the Obama children attend public or private school?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Linda from Bisbee, Arizona writes:
What could possibly be gained by sending them to a public school? They will be easier to protect and will get a better education in a private school. I just know the Obamas can figure this out without our input.
Ann from South Carolina writes:
Public schools have nothing to offer the intelligence of these two girls. I taught in public schools for 24 of the 34 years I taught, and I watched the schools deteriorate as government demanded accountability for the funds they supplied. Today our public schools have one goal and one goal only: to place well on the achievement tests. Education has gone down the tubes.
Gina from Racine, Wisconsin writes:
After hearing the Obamas speak about their children and family values and then observing them with their children, I think they will make the best decision, in the interest of those sweet little girls, as to which type of school they attend. The media and the public should stay out of it.
Jon writes:
I've taught and done administration in public and private schools for years in the D.C. area. As good as some of the public schools in the District are, no public school here is set up to offer the combination of security for the girls and minimal disruption for other students as the private schools offer. The independent schools are smaller, have more secure campuses, and have a long history of educating children of presidents, senators, and congressmen and women. This isn't really even a question.
Kenneth from Chadbourn, N.C. writes:
A private school, of course. What's the sense of upsetting a public school just so the Obamas can be perceived as ordinary children? They aren't, and won't be for the rest of their lives. They’re the children of the President of the United States, and the only way they would help a public school is it will be the safest in the world.
Rod writes:
The Obama kids should attend whatever school they like. It’s a free country. It’s a dumb question.