School daze

Barack Obama's two young daughters, it was announced last week, will attend the exclusive Sidwell Friends private school when the family moves into the White House in January.

President-elect Obama has been warmly embraced by the teacher unions and other agents of the educational establishment during his political career. It's doubtful his administration will do much to shake up the status quo when it comes the nation's public schools.

So his choice is instructive.

Certainly, Mr. Obama should send his children to a school with which his family feels comfortable. All parents want the best for their kids and Sidwell Friends has educated many children of the political elite.

But it speaks volumes that Mr. Obama and his wife have opted for a private campus that charges $30,000 a year instead of a public school system that he has spent so much time defending.