Teachers and private schools

The Journal Sentinel reports on a study by the Thomas Fordham foundation on the number of public school teachers who send their children to private schools. As the Journal article notes, the study found almost 30% of public school teachers living in Milwaukee sent their children to private schools. This percentage is higher than either that for all Milwaukee parents or for urban teachers in general.

It seems likely to Schools Now that this sort of statistic is more compelling to those already convinced (including Schools Now) that school choice is good public policy than those convinced it is a bad idea. After all, opponents of school choice (with rare exceptions) don't argue against parents sending their children to private schools; they simply argue that tax money should not fund that choice.

To the extent that school choice has turned into a liberal versus conservative argument, the two groups have reversed their usual positions towards equity for the poor. Conservatives argue that poor parents should have the same right as middle class parents--including teachers--to opt out of the public schools. Liberals, by contrast, say that if the public school is not working for a child and the parent cannot afford a private school, tough luck.