"If you send your kid to private school, you are a bad person"

[Xithras]

4. If you willingly undermine your childs education for the good of "society", you're an unfit parent.

The author herself says "It could take generations. Your children and grandchildren might get mediocre educations in the meantime, but it will be worth it, for the eventual common good."

And on that, I call ten helpings of bullshit. Some of us live in areas with abysmal right-wing public school systems that churn out students barely educated enough to compete with other students from OUR OWN STATE for spots in our public universities. What the author is saying is essentially, "If you live in a poor area and your local school system sucks, you should condemn your child to continue that poverty by denying them an education that will allow them to overcome it...on the off-chance that the system might improve for their grandchildren".

My oldest daughter went through public schools, graduated second in her HS class, and barely squeaked into one of the top UC's in California. Once there, she failed miserably for her first year. Her public school education left her completely unprepared for the rigors and expectations of UC academics. More importantly, when discussing her problems with her friends, she was shocked at how sub-par her academic skills were when she compared them to her friends and roommates who graduated from public high schools in the SF Bay Area or the Los Angeles region. I live in one of the poorest regions in California, and it reflects in the relative quality of our educational system.

Both of my younger children were moved into private schools soon after that. Both struggled to catch up with their classmates right after the transition, but both are doing great now, and both are academically far ahead of their friends who are still in the public school system. And contrary to the authors assertions, I have far more interest in improving our local school systems NOW than I did when my children were actually attending. That check I cut to pay for their private schools is a HUGE motivator to get me active in our local public school district and improve things. The fact that a parent, in my area, has to cut a check to a private school in order to secure a quality education for their child is a travesty. There are many other things that I'd much rather be spending that money on (like paying bills, or going on vacation...which I haven't done in 9 years, or saving for retirement).

As parents, our #1 job is to put our children on the best footing possible to live happy, successful lives. If you increase your child's odds of living in poverty and failing at their life goals by denying them the best education possible, then you are failing them as a parent. It's one thing if you can't afford to give your child a hand up because you don't have the resources, but when you DO have the resources and deny them to your child, you are making the choice to lower your own child's horizons and reduce their opportunities just to make a social statement. I can't even wrap my mind about the thought processes that would lead a parent to make a choice like that.