(Newser)
–
Sandra Tsing Loh likes Barack and Michelle Obama’s politics, but, as a proud PTA mom, wonders why they couldn’t send their kids to a public school in their native Chicago, she writes in the New York Times. The inclusion of middle-class or affluent children, especially from families who value education, has been shown to benefit poor children immensely.
Joe Biden and John McCain also abandoned public education for their offspring, leaving Loh with an uncomfortable appreciation of Sarah Palin, the only politician to seize the “deeply profound emotional real estate of ‘PTA mother.’” Palin’s kids went to a humble-looking Alaskan public school. A “depressed” Loh notes, “that’s a lot of street cred for a gun-totin’, snow-mobilin’ creationist-lovin’ lady.”