[stupac2]

On the other hand, it is very clear to me that a new priviledged class is breaking away from the pack that now has access to "priviledges" like private education, which used to be accessible to upper middle and even middle classes.

I am curious about this. Like many here, I went to a public school growing up. My four kids are (or will be) in public schools as well, though we are lucky enough to live in an area with very good public schools. I am a professor at a smaller private liberal arts college, and many of my students went to private schools; I don't know the percentage that has, but it seems like a greater percentage than what I recall about my cohort at Stanford. It seemed that many of my friends at Stanford that went to prep schools were pretty wealthy. As far as my current students that are at private schools, I am not sure. However, despite my own experience, I accept the observation above that private primary or secondary education is less accessible.

Maybe those of you that know better than I about recent history of education or economics related to this issue can enlighten me. Is there an increasing gap (like there is in other parts of our society) between the rich and poor and private schools? Why? Has the tuition gone up a lot to make it more difficult for lower middle class families (like mine growing up) or middle class families (like mine now) to attend? If so, why? Is there less support for subsidizing tuition?

-m.

I'm not aware of any evidence that private schools lead to significantly different outcomes down the line, but I do know that public schools with more well-off parents lead to better outcomes (a quick googlin' seems to indicate that the same is true of private schools, the difference in performance is almost entirely compositional, not anything the schools do differently). I think that, at some point, you start to hit pretty serious diminishing returns. But the marginal utility of money being what it is, wealthy people have to spend on something, and what better thing than your children? I've read some stories about pre-schools in NYC that cost more than I paid for Stanford...

[stupac2]

On the other hand, it is very clear to me that a new priviledged class is breaking away from the pack that now has access to "priviledges" like private education, which used to be accessible to upper middle and even middle classes.

I am curious about this. Like many here, I went to a public school growing up. My four kids are (or will be) in public schools as well, though we are lucky enough to live in an area with very good public schools. I am a professor at a smaller private liberal arts college, and many of my students went to private schools; I don't know the percentage that has, but it seems like a greater percentage than what I recall about my cohort at Stanford. It seemed that many of my friends at Stanford that went to prep schools were pretty wealthy. As far as my current students that are at private schools, I am not sure. However, despite my own experience, I accept the observation above that private primary or secondary education is less accessible.

Maybe those of you that know better than I about recent history of education or economics related to this issue can enlighten me. Is there an increasing gap (like there is in other parts of our society) between the rich and poor and private schools? Why? Has the tuition gone up a lot to make it more difficult for lower middle class families (like mine growing up) or middle class families (like mine now) to attend? If so, why? Is there less support for subsidizing tuition?

-m.

I'm not aware of any evidence that private schools lead to significantly different outcomes down the line, but I do know that public schools with more well-off parents lead to better outcomes (a quick googlin' seems to indicate that the same is true of private schools, the difference in performance is almost entirely compositional, not anything the schools do differently). I think that, at some point, you start to hit pretty serious diminishing returns. But the marginal utility of money being what it is, wealthy people have to spend on something, and what better thing than your children? I've read some stories about pre-schools in NYC that cost more than I paid for Stanford...