How members of Congress practice private school choice.

• Author: Feinberg, Evan
• Position: Life in America

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MANY MEMBERS of Congress value the opportunity to choose a safe and effective school for their own children, yet a number of these same members consistently oppose school choice legislation that would give the same opportunity to other families. For example, Senators Edward Kennedy (D.-Mass.) and Hillary Clinton (D.-N.Y.) have been outspoken opponents of school choice initiatives even though both have sent their children to private schools.

Since 2000, The Heritage Foundation has conducted several surveys of Congress to determine how many senators and representatives practice school choice by sending their offspring to private school. In 2007, some 45% of senators and 37% of representatives in the 110th Congress sent their kids to private schools--almost four times the rate of the general population.

Based on the survey results, 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. Congress should support policies that give all families the opportunity to choose the best school options for their children.

In 2007, The Heritage Foundation conducted a survey of members of Congress to determine the percentage that practice private school choice. It conducted similar surveys in 2000, 2001, and 2003, and the results show that private school choice continues to be an important option for elected leaders' families. The 2007 survey found that the percentage of members of the 110th Congress who practice private school choice is disproportionate to the general populace, since only 11.5% of American students attend private schools. Also of note, members of the Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Hispanic Caucus, who represent populations who have fared poorly academically in public schools and who stand to benefit the most from educational options, showed particularly high rates of practicing school choice.

Other notable findings include:

* More than 23% of House Education and Labor Committee members and 33% of Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee members exercised private school choice.

* Exactly 52% of Congressional Black Caucus members and 38% of Congressional Hispanic Caucus members sent at least one child to private school.

Since 2001, Congress has considered multiple initiatives to expand parental choice in education. During the first...