When Adrian Fenty’s 6-year-old twin sons start class this fall, they will walk through the doors of Tots, a private school in Petworth, rather than West, the local elementary school.
Is it fair to expect a mayoral candidate who has made improving public education the centerpiece of his campaign to send his children to public school?
As a parent, I am of two minds. Where one schools one’s children is among the most important decisions a parent must make. It is sensitive and private and must be tailored to each child’s needs. Reacting to changes in their lives, I sent my three daughters to a mix of public and private schools, though they spent most of their school years in D.C. public schools; one is in Wilson High now.
But I am not running for public office.
Riding shotgun through town Wednesday in Fenty’s Ford Expedition campaign battle wagon, I put the question to the man who would be mayor.
“We will send them to the same school they have been going to since they were 2,” he says. “If the school had stopped at age 3, we would have sent them to West at age 4.”
Tots used to stop at first grade; now it goes up to third grade.
“When that school stops,” he says, “we will enroll them in the local elementary school. My brothers and I went to D.C. public schools. My mother taught in D.C. public schools. My kids will go to D.C. public schools.”
Democrats do have a history of talking public and going private, starting at the top: Bill Clinton sent Chelsea to Sidwell Friends.
As the D.C. public schools descended into the abyss during his 16 years as mayor, Marion Barry sent his son, Christopher, to St. Albans. When former Council Member Kevin Chavous chaired the education committee, his two sons attended private schools. Ward 2 Council Member Jack Evans sends his three kids to private school, rather than to Georgetown’s local schools.
On the other hand, mayoral candidate Vincent Orange’s children attend D.C. public schools. And Linda Cropp, Fenty’s main rival, sent her children through DCPS.
That fact does not let Cropp off the hook for holding leadership positions for 26 years in the schools and the city while the schools went down the drain. If anything, it backs those who argue that where you school your children is irrelevant. Fenty started hollering about bad schools when he was first elected to District Council and never stopped.To Fenty’s credit, he has not campaigned with his cute boys. They are not fair game.
“To pull them out of school for political reasons would be wrong for the opposite reason,” he argues.
But it is fair to hold Fenty to his word, especially if he prevails on Sept. 12. He has cast himself as a man of the people, who will make the government and the schools accountable to its customers. He can choose West, a fine elementary school.
Most Washingtonians don’t have the luxury of choice.
Harry Jaffe has been covering the Washington area since 1985. E-mail him at [email protected].
