WASHINGTON — After a school search that set off weeks of frenzied speculation among parents here, President-elect Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, announced Friday that their two daughters would attend Sidwell Friends School, the prestigious academy that has educated generations of this city’s elite.
The Quaker-run Sidwell, which was established in 1883, has educated the children of at least three presidents, Theodore Roosevelt, Richard M. Nixon and Bill Clinton. And there was an added bonus: grandchildren of Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., who are friendly with the Obama girls, attend Sidwell.
The Obama family had considered two other private institutions, Georgetown Day School and Maret School, for their girls, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7.
But Sidwell has long been described by some as the Harvard of Washington’s private schools. Its tuition runs as high as $29,442 a year.
“A number of great schools were considered,” said Katie McCormick Lelyveld, a spokeswoman for Mrs. Obama. “In the end, the Obamas selected the school that was the best fit for what their daughters need right now.”
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty of Washington strongly lobbied the Obamas to consider a public school, but that was apparently never an option.
The Obama girls currently attend private school, the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, where annual tuition runs as high as $21,480, and the family did not tour any public schools on their recent visits.
Since Election Day, guessing which school the Obamas would choose became one of affluent Washington’s most popular parlor games.
Camera crews staked out the schools in hopes of a glimpse of Mrs. Obama (who visited Sidwell and Georgetown Day twice) and the girls (who visited schools once this week). Parents hotly debated the merits of each.
Out Foxing Karl Rove 
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November 22, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Diane
After voting against school vouchers Obama is sending his daughters to private school. Hypocrisy, you bet, and only the beginning of the ” double standard ” you will see from this man!!!
November 22, 2008 at 5:29 pm
cole55
Well I don’t know – his daughters as far as I know have always gone to private schools. Obama as a child was sent to one as well.
The argument against the voucher system was that it serviced to few children.
In Chicago Barack Obama and others helped to start these charter schools – which I believe are public/ and privately owned – the competition to get into one of them is so fierce – that they have to have a lottery to decide which kid is allowed.
If you don’t have money to send your kid to a private school – these could be a very good – next best option.
Some countries around the world have better standards for their publicly run schools than the US – it would be important to learn what these countries are doing – and try to implement some of their better idea here.
Over all Barack Obama has promised to improve school standards across the board – as kids will soon be competing in a global market – and he liked Bush’s No Child Left Behind – but believed that the money was left behind.