Obama says D.C. schools don’t match up to his daughters’ private school

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama has said that D.C. public schools cannot give his daughters the academic experience they are receiving at the private Sidwell Friends School.

Obama, 49, had made the comment in response to a woman who asked whether Malia and Sasha Obama “would get the same kind of education at a D.C. public school” that they are getting at the D.C. private school.

“I’ll be blunt with you: The answer is no,” the Washington Post quoted Obama as saying on NBC’s Today show.

“Right now D.C. public schools are struggling, but they have made some important strides over the last several years to move in the direction of reform. There are some terrific individual schools in the D.C. system,” he stated.

Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee, who recently referred to the primary election loss of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) as “devastating” to the city’s schools, did not publicly object to Obama’s remarks.

“In terms of the comment from the president, it is a fair assessment,” Rhee said.

“We have indeed seen good progress over the last few years, but we still have a long way to go before we can say we’re providing all children with an excellent education,” she added. (ANI)