<p>Public school class size is usually twice the size of private school class size in NYC, at every level. So it’s a lot more work to teach in public school. </p>
<p>My daughter had a lot of really excellent teachers throughout public school in NYC–they cared about their students and worked very hard. A couple of duds and two outright crazy people, but so it goes. One of the crazies got fired last year after 45 years of teaching in NYC.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The answer might be, that just as private schools come in all kinds of flavor and price ranges, the public school are hardly equal everywhere. One could live in a part of Dallas --well technically it is its own city-- and attend a school that comes to close to the best privates, but someone living a few miles South might be in one of the worst schools in the country. And even for the people who live a few miles north in neighborhoods of houses costing between half and two million dollars, the choices of public schools are not attractive. </p>
<p>The option, and one many have followed, is to move waaaay north of Shangri-Lalandia and become part of the higher priced suburban dreams. For some familes, that means a combination of less expensive housing and brand new school districts such as the Allen one that made the headlines with their 100,000,000 football temple and 40,000,000 glorified bus barn. </p>
<p>But do not be fooled: there is a world of difference between attending a school in Oak Cliff or even Dallas proper and the ones in the Park Cities or Allen/McKinney/Southlake. And to be blunt … a world of differences in the skin color of the students. People who CAN vote with their feet are doing it, either by abandoning the urban centers or pay dearly for housing in the Park Cities or splurge for private tuition. </p>
<p>In the meantime, it is pretty clear that public schools are not the same everywhere. You still have horrible schools in most large urban areas of the country. And you have little bastions of well-constructed elitism a la Syosset and in between a whole slew of schools that organize internal segregation through … advanced programs a la IB. </p>
<p>My college boyfriend was (and is) one of the smartest people I have ever met. He grew up in the poorest county in Tennessee–a very rural area with NO resources in the public schools. His family was also extremely dysfunctional. But somehow he managed to get into and make it through Northwestern undergrad, University of Chicago for a masters, and UW-Madison for his PhD.</p>
<p>I know this is a sample set of one, but I think it’s important to remember that many successful people start out with less than optimal circumstances.</p>
<p>Also, speaking of the $100MM football temple, my friend in Texas the other day just happened to mention that her son’s high school has a Jumbotron. Our school doesn’t even have its own field!</p>
<p>Oh, I think I went overboard. The stadium AND the barn might have been for a total of 100MM. </p>
<p>Anyhow, for full reference, here is an article about the beauty. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.si.com/more-sports/2014/07/29/60-million-allen-texas-high-school-football-stadium-repairs”>http://www.si.com/more-sports/2014/07/29/60-million-allen-texas-high-school-football-stadium-repairs</a></p>
<p>And 9 more temples
<a href=“10 high school football stadiums to see before you die”>http://www.maxpreps.com/news/2BVcrfP2E0-LJ9efx_TJ-A/10-high-school-football-stadiums-to-see-before-you-die.htm</a></p>
<p>In the public school system, there is no default neighborhood option. Every child must apply and something like 10,000 get no placement at all and get dumped back Into the pool of leftover spots. There are at least two rounds and sometimes four, and each program of the twelve that each student can apply to has its own criteria. It isn’t necessarily about the “right” placement, but about any placement that the family can manage. The worst case scenario involves being placed out of your own borough with an hours-long commute.</p>
<p>^^^zooser, I can’t even imagine. I just can’t.</p>
<p>Yeah, zoosermom: that is truly awful. In most places you can at least consider convenience as one of the factors, and of course you know that by living in a certain school attendance area your kids can go there! That would be so stressful for me. No wonder my family moved out of the city when I was starting kindergarten. And that was before all the current madness.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>xiggi, even back in the day, I attended a very non affluent suburban elementary/middle school/high school in Tarrant, not Dallas county, and literally had one, ONE African American classmate in my entire experience, and he didn’t even show up on the radar until high school! I was Hispanic on my Dad’s side, while my Mom was a white haired, blue eyed Swede, and I think I was the only Hispanic kid until at least middle school! My girls went to their elite privates with many girls of different races/ethnic groups/nationalities. Who would have thought?</p>
<p>It is hideous for so many reasons I can’t even tell you. Some schools give out the envelopes in school leaving some kids to deal with bad news in front of schoolmates. It is also hard for people who are less fluent in English to apply in a realistic fashion. My son just finished sophomore year as a scholarship student in a prep school and when that scholarship came through I literally fell to my knees and sobbed because I couldn’t live with his specialized round match or his regular round match. He wanted the regular round spot but I knew it would have been a disaster. I committed a major sin, though. I let him apply to that program all the while putting my plans into the prep school. If he hadn’t received the scholarship, it would have been an epic disaster… One of his classmates got a placement the family couldn’t live with, so they put him into a private school. His father was killed in an accident in October and the family couldn’t pay tuition. The DOE wouldn’t consider an alternate public placement for him, because no changes can be made the first year. The father’s coworkers and the community paid the tuition.</p>
<p>Also an awful situation, but wonderful that the community came together for the family like that.</p>
<p>NYC is really crazy. Wonderful in so many ways, but I have to hand it to anyone who can figure out how to live there. I can’t even imagine doing the simple things people in “regular” places do–getting to soccer practice, dance lessons, the grocery store. On the other hand, there is so much there that the rest of us can only get in small doses.</p>
<p>Getting to soccer practice, dance lessons or the grocery store is easy - in most cases you can just walk. If not then hop a cab or a subway - voila’! you are there.</p>
<p>Just scanned the other posts. Can’t resist posting. </p>
<p>Or, you can be gifted and attend public schools in a traditionally blue collar city or its suburbs in Wisconsin and go to Harvard or other Ivies. A lot cheaper.</p>
<p>Aside from the school thing (which is good or it’s not good–we were lucky), NYC is a great place to raise a teen. Not allowed to drive until they are 18 (17 in very limited circumstances), but they can take the subway. Once my kid hit 6th grade, she got herself to where she was going.</p>
<p>It is also easier to get a babysitter because he/she won’t need to know how to drive to get your kid to and from different activities.</p>
<p>@sally305 - “Why? Why not just live life in the place that works for your family and the parents’ jobs and support your kids by staying involved in their schooling and offering enriching activities to supplement their formal education?”</p>
<p>In many large cities, a lot of resident families have no viable public neighborhood school (from K-12). None. Seriously. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You can do that in NYC too. </p>
<p>I think posters here are missing the point of the NYT article. The objective of these parents is not to find a cost competitive alternative to a live in nanny. The point is to get their kids into HIGH SCHOOL at HMann, Trinity, Dalten, etc, as a springboard to Harvard, in any way possible even if it means paying 40+k tuition starting at age 3. </p>
<p>15 years of education, starting w nursury school, pre-K, K, then 1-12, is over 600k. And these parents also hire private tutors & private college admissions counselors. The college rat race for these families starts at age 3.</p>
<p>Right. Some of these people are the same ones who send their kids to $14K college essay-writing bootcamps for four days. And this doesn’t even account for the cost of private music or dance lessons or athletic trainers or summer enrichment activities. It’s insane.</p>
<p>It really doesn’t matter how much you spend on your kid’s education. The education starts way before they enter K. Every step is a building block (springboard) for next. It is no different at many suburban schools. Parents spend a lot of money in buying homes in the best school district. Once their kids are of certain age, they start lobbying for their kids to be placed in higher academic track. It is more expensive to live in NYC (1.5 mill for a no frill 2 bedroom vs 200K at other parts of US). I do not see the need of singling out parents in NYC</p>
<p>@oldfort, I think the suburban helicopter parents are nuts, too.</p>