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Fun With Schools
So we (by which I mean the fraction of us who are not misplaced west-coasters stuck in the hyper-active east-coast) are starting to investigate the situation with schoolin' for our beloved Erika. The situation in New York City seems to be that the public schools are horribly run and inefficient and unions and bureaucrats drag the whole system in a massive murk of schools that require all the kids to go through metal detectors every day only to come out without knowing how to read. Or rather, most of them are like that, although there are a handful of public schools which are actually fairly decent. The other option is to go with one of the private schools, which means that:
- You get to pay through the nose to get something you've already paid for through the outrageously high taxes.
- Your children get exposed to the joys of "keeping up with the Joneses" in the rarefied world of multi-millionaires years sooner than they would otherwise.
Although technically speaking #2 already occurs to some extent in ways I will tell you about later. Anyway, I am reading a book "New York City's Best Public Elementary Schools" which contains this extremely choice quote:
There are three ways to get into [good public] schools: (1) follow the rules; (2) lie; (3) stretch the truth, cajole, and pull strings.
To which I can only add the comment, "sheesh."
3 comments:
The public schools in our part of Pittsburgh are, simply put, outstanding. We are continually surprised by their high quality. When we get our outrageous tax bills, we say to ourselves, "at least we're getting our money's worth". (And to be completely fair, the outrageous taxes are our own damn fault for having an outrageous house.)
Shoulda moved to Pittsburgh when you had the chance. Even the hockey teams are better here, Mr. Big White North.
I take it the third option of homeschooling and/or unschooling is Right Out?
Good luck navigating the NYC school system! More money doesn't necessarily mean better education. I have no doubt that Erika will thrive wherever she is planted.
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