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Some people are calling president-elect Barack Obama a hypocrite because he’s been claiming he believes in public schools, but he’s sending his daughters Sasha and Malia to Sidwell friends. Personally I don’t see an issue here. Obama saying he believes in public schools doesn’t obligate him to send his daughters to a public school. He doesn’t have to send his daughters to public schools to prove anything to anyone, and it’s ridiculous of anyone who will argue that by sending his daughters to private school he’s contradicting his claim to believe in public schools.

Let’s face it, public schools have a long way to go, and while Obama might believe that it’s possible for children to receive a quality education in public schools, he’s perfectly well aware that the public school system throughout the United States simply isn’t where it needs to be “yet”; and aside from the question of quality of education, there’s the question of safety. Should Obama take a chance with his children’s lives to make other people happy? If you could afford to put your children in private school would you put them in public school just to prove that you believe in the public school system knowing fully well that public schools in America are far from being safe havens where children can go to learn without facing the possibility of being killed?

Yes, school shootings can happen at any type of school, but if statistics show that they happen more often at public schools and you have the option to put your children in private school where statistics suggest they will be safer, even if you believe that they can get a good education at a public school are you going to ignore the statistics about their safety? Probably not. If you have the means and can choose between public and private you’ll probably chose private.

Then there’s the question of whether or not the children of presidents can safely attend regular public schools; and with Barack Obama already being targeted by would-be assassins, placing his children in a regular public school would not only place them at possible risk, but it would also be a risk to the lives of the innocent children attending the school with them.