Franken Is A Fraud. His Kids Go To Exclusive Schools While He Gets Campaign Contributions From The NEA

Democrat who blasted Betsy DeVos over school vouchers is a big fan of school choice for his own kids

Brandon Morse Mar 9, 2017 5:53 pm

Sen. Al Franken was critical of Betsy DeVos during her confirmation hearing as Secretary of Education because of her support for a voucher system for middle-class families. But Franken isn't opposed to school choice — he sends his own children to one of the most prestigious schools in New York. (Image source: Getty Images)

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Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) was one of Education Secretary  Betsy DeVos’ biggest critics during her confirmation hearing. One major point of contention Franken had with DeVos was her support for a voucher system for middle-class families. This, in part, led him to claim that DeVos was “fundamentally unqualified to lead the Education Department.”

“In reality, most school vouchers don’t cover the full cost of private school tuition,” Franken had said. “Nor do they cover additional expenses like transportation, school uniforms and other supplies.

“Which means the vouchers don’t create more choices for low-income families,” he said. “They simply subsidize existing choices for families who could already afford to pay for private school.”

However, information has surfaced that shows Franken isn’t opposed to school choice at all — at least not when it comes to his own family. According to the Daily Caller, Franken sends his own children to one of the most prestigious schools in New York, where tuition is more than the yearly salary of those Franken claims he’s looking out for.

Minnesota Sen. Al Franken’s two children attend Dalton School, described by the liberal-leaning Daily Beast as “one of New York’s most exclusive and rigorous private schools and boasts an impressive roster of celebrity alumni, including Anderson Cooper and Claire Danes.” Dalton’s application asks parents to list any prestigious titles they hold,  including, “Princess, Senate and Ambassador,” according to The Daily Beast.

Franken describes Dalton as “a very high-powered, expensive New York City private high school.”

How expensive? Dalton’s tuition is currently $44,640 a year.

Furthermore, Franken himself benefited from school choice. According to an interview in Harvard Magazine, Franken attended one of the most prestigious charter schools in Minnesota.

Franken turned out to be a whiz in science and math, and when his brother went off to MIT, the family began to look for a better secondary school for Al. As it happened, Blake was looking for kids just like him.

“Blake was a school chartered for Protestants,” Franken said. “In the 1950s, it started to lose the ability to get enough kids into top colleges. They needed kids who would score well. And they said …‘JEWS!’ ”

Interestingly enough, the National Education Association was also opposed to DeVos. The organization’s president, Lily Eskelsen García, called DeVos “dangerously unqualified” and echoed the same sentiments that Franken expressed concerning DeVos’ lack of experience with public schools.

According to Union Facts, Franken was given $10,000 for his campaign by the NEA.

Would It Be Wise To Close Half The Schools In The US? It Does In Hillary's World

• EDUCATION

Hillary Clinton: If Elected President, I’ll Shut Down 50,000 Public Schools

"I wouldn't keep any school open that wasn't doing a better than average job."

DECEMBER 22, 2015 By The Federalist Staff

Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton announced during a campaign stop in Iowa that she would shut down nearly 50,000 public schools if elected president. Her comments at the event were broadcast by NBC.

“This school district, and these schools throughout Iowa, are doing a better than average job,” Hillary Clinton said during a campaign event at a school in Keota, Iowa, on Tuesday. “Now, I wouldn’t keep any school open that wasn’t doing a better than average job.”

“If a school’s not doing a good job, then, you know, that may not be good for the kids,” she continued. Clinton did not elaborate on how a school doing a poor job could possibly be good for the kids.

According to U.S. Department of Education statistics, there were just over 98,000 public schools in the U.S. as of the 2011-2012 school year, the most recent year for which complete data are available. Under Hillary Clinton’s proposed education plan to shutter all average and below average schools, that would mean that nearly 50,000 schools would have to be shut down, assuming that the median and average national school performance were roughly equal.

Nearly two-thirds of those schools targeted by Clinton’s proposal–over 30,000–would be elementary schools.

Iowa has more than 500,000 students enrolled in public K-12 schools in the state, according to estimates by the National Education Association (NEA), a national teachers’ union. The NEA estimates that 35,000 teachers are employed by the Iowa public school system.

During her remarks, Clinton did not state which specific performance metrics she would use to determine whether a school was performing adequately, nor did she say where children who had been attending average or below-average schools shut down by her administration could go for their educational needs.