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Democratic Presidential Candidate Dodd Exercises School Choice of the Political Kind

By Michele McNeil — November 19, 2007 1 min read
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School choice has continued to be a hot political topic over the last several months, especially with the referendum that failed miserably in Utah that would have created the country’s first universal voucher program.

Often, supporters of vouchers and other school choice options talk about how such efforts could help level the playing field between poorer parents, who may not be able to afford to move out of a failing school district, and wealthier parents, who have greater means to do so.

U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut exercised school choice of a different kind today, according to an Associated Press story. He moved his 6-year-old daughter, Grace, to a different school this year—one in Iowa—and staged a photo-op as he and his wife were dropping her off at kindergarten. Sen. Dodd took his daughter out of her Washington, D.C., school not because he was unhappy with it, but for political reasons. The family moved to Iowa temporarily to campaign before the Iowa caucuses. Grace will return to her kindergarten class in Washington, D.C. after the caucuses on Jan. 3.