Heritage research assistant Evan Feinberg reports on a news study showing that “37 percent of Representatives and 45 percent of Senators in the 110th Congress sent their children to private schools—almost four times the rate of the general population.” He observes, “if all of the Members who exercised school choice for their own children had supported school choice in policy, every major legislative effort in recent years to give parents school choice would have passed.” Indeed, “Over 37 percent of House Democrats have practiced school choice, but 96 percent of Democrats who practiced school choice voted against the voucher program.”
Heritage media and public policy director Rob Bluey piles on, charging that, “What’s even more bothersome is that some members of Congress — who are paid $165,200 per year — have no problem sending their own kids to private schools, but want to reduce the school-choice options for those without financial means to afford it on their own.”
Now, this is somewhat unfair. For one thing, it’s not necessarily hypocritical to engage in luxury purchases on one’s own dime while being against public subsidies for those same services. Further, a great number of Members reside in the District, which has some of the worst schools in the country, so comparing their rates to that of the entire population skews the results.
Still, one would think a group that so obviously appreciates the virtues of private education would want to make it more widely available.
