Study: Public-school teachers' kids go private
Teachers in urban public schools send their own children to private schools at nearly double the national rate of private-school attendance, according to a new study by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute in Washington, D.C. Nationwide, 12.2 percent of all families in urban, rural and suburban settings send their children to private schools. But 21.5 percent of urban public-school teachers send their children to private schools.
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The current gentrification of cities is largely restricted to childless couples, both young and old, and upper-income parents who are confident that they can find either an acceptable public school - including charter schools - or an affordable private school for their own children. Few middle-class parents will tolerate bad schools, the study concludes: "To escape them, they will pay out-of-pocket or vote with their feet. That is what discerning teachers do and the rest of the public, we believe, is simply modeling their behavior."


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Sure--this is undoubtedly true, and it makes sense. People want the best education for their kids that they can afford. Public school teachers are no different. But what the article doesn't point out is the fact that unionized public school teachers overwhelmingly vote for the Democratic Party, claiming that Republicans want to privatize public education and demanding that all levels of government shower more taxpayer money on failed public schools--schools that these teachers won't use for their own kids. So, public school teachers vote for their own economic self-interest but use their taxpayer-funded salaries to send their kids to private schools. Democrats at the polls, Republican as parents.
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