There are many disgraceful aspects to the $410 billion 0mnibus spending bill that is working its way to passage in Congress. But amid the many porky earmarks and boondoggles that are part of this travesty there is one provision worth singling out.
The killing of the experimental school choice program that was giving 1,700 D.C. children a chance to get out of their failed public school system and attend a quality private or religious school. The Senate vote on Tuesday ensured that the program will be effectively killed after the 2009-10 fiscal year.
This was hardly a surprise, given that killing any plan that would give families vouchers to attend the school of their choice was a priority for the Democrats. President Obama has been a consistent opponent of school choice.
The arguments that choice would hurt public schools are a joke. Forcing failed public school systems to compete can only make them better. As for the loss of funds, Washington, D.C., like some other urban areas, already spends far more per student than other districts that give kids a better education.
Other attempts to smear choice, such as claiming it will fund Farrakhan’s schools, are red herrings. State education standards about curricula can deal with that problem. The notion that such plans will undermine the separation of church and state is a canard.
Public education means educating the public not slavishly supporting a government-run monopoly on education.
Wherever voucher plans have been tried, the demand for them has been overwhelming as parents desperately try to give their children a better education than the one provided by the often terrible public schools in the area.
The hypocrisy of liberal Democrats, who claim to be acting on behalf of the poor and the underprivileged, spiking efforts that throw a lifeline to inner-city kids is appalling.
But Obama’s hypocrisy is even more special...
[And to answer the title's question; no one in the MSM will even ask him about it.]
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