The Second Debate Between Kean and Menendez

Reading articles about last night’s debate between Bob Menendez and Tom Kean, this exchange caught our attention.

NJN's Jim Hooker asked Menendez how he could be a man of the people when he's been living a privileged life since he got to Congress and his children have attended private school.

"My kids had the benefit of both public — they went to a public day care, they went to public elementary school and then they had the opportunity to go to private high school."

First off, why are New Jersey’s taxpayers footing the tab for “public day care”, especially for families earning a good income as was the case for Menendez family? It just seems ridiculous that taxpayers have to pay other people’s babysitting costs. It’s just one of many reasons taxes are so high in New Jersey.

As for Menendez and his wife sending their two children to a private high school, that’s their business. Most people want to give their children the best possible education and in this respect the Menendez family is no different than one else. Their children were just fortunate to have parents that could afford to send their children to a private school. There’s no shame in that.

The couple obviously decided it would be in the best interest of their children not to send them to the local public highs school, despite the fact Union City spends far more per pupil than the average New Jersey school district. Jane Jacobsen-Menendez, the Senator’s ex-wife (divorced in 2005), is a teacher and works for the Union City Board of education, so they certainly based their decision with inside knowledge. They know first hand that greater taxpayer cost per student often does not translate into a better education.

Plus look at it this way, while Menendez and his ex-wife have earned their living from taxpayer funded jobs, they could have spent their money on any number of things. But instead they paid for private school tuition, actually saving taxpayers money. Good for them, we’re very glad they did.