One of the things the film does, intentionally or otherwise, is show how the Democrat party has trapped poor children in deplorable schools from which there's no escape and in which there's no hope. The Democrats do this by quashing all attempts to give these children the financial means, through vouchers for example, to attend private schools or more affluent schools in the suburbs.
Why do they do this? Because they're in thrall to the teachers' unions, and those unions see educational choice as a threat to their job security. The more children who opt out of public schools the fewer teachers that'll be needed to staff those schools.
Thomas writes:
As a synopsis on the Fandango movie site says, this film "explores the tragic ways in which the American public education system is failing our nation's children. ..."
Not only do we see children and their parents on the edge of their seats during a lottery that will determine who gets the educational equivalent of a "get out of jail free" card, we also watch the crestfallen faces of those who don't draw the magic numbers for decent schools, a better education and, thus, a hope for the future. Is this how a poor child's destiny should be decided, by lottery?President Obama, of course, along with almost every other Democrat in Washington, sends his children to private schools like Sidwell Friends, but then they can afford the $31,069 tuition. Most parents can't.
Thomas continues:
During a recent appearance on the "Today" show, a woman in the audience asked President Obama why he selected a tony private school for his daughters over D.C. Public Schools.
He said Sasha and Malia could not receive the same level of education from D.C. Public Schools that they get at Sidwell Friends.
The president said because of his position "we could probably maneuver" to get them into one of the better public schools, but he said the "broader problem" is that parents without "a bunch of connections" don't have such options.
Nice try, but if he wanted to place his daughters in a public school, no connections would be needed. Jimmy Carter sent his daughter, Amy, to a public school when he was president. The issue for the Obamas and everyone else with school-age kids is which school provides them the best education?
The poor do not have a choice, other than a lottery. This is immoral.Indeed it is, and it's also ironic. Democrats stand foursquare for choice when it comes to giving a woman the right to kill her child, but they're foursquare against choice when it comes to giving a woman the right to give her child a decent education.
Thomas compares Dems to modern day George Wallaces. Wallace, you might recall, was the Governor of Alabama in the 1960s who stood in the doorway of the University of Alabama to keep black kids from entering the school:
Members of Congress -- mostly Democrats -- are channeling the late Alabama Gov. George Wallace, who in 1963 stood in the schoolhouse door at the University of Alabama to prevent blacks from entering. Today, certain members of Congress are metaphorically standing in schoolhouse doors, preventing the poor from leaving.The mystery is why the poor continue to believe that the Democrats are the party looking out for their interests.