You’re sending little Tyler and Emily to public school? How cutting edge!
The New York Times, its radar ever attuned to the lifestyles of privileged Manhattanites, reports that the economic downturn is prompting many families to consider actually subjecting their progeny to public school. In a classic example of the kind of story that serves merely to remind most Americans why they can’t stand New Yorkers, the paper refuses to report it straight. Instead, it’s a trend piece. “In these financially fragile times,” says the Times, ”the new bragging rights begin with a P.S. The rush is on to live near the best.”
For some young families who bought during the housing boom, having it all meant an affordable brood-sized apartment in possession of a good public school zone. But other parents in pursuit of real estate never even thought about schools. They assumed they would send their children to private school, often because they too had followed that route. That was before the economic crisis. Now, as many would-be private school parents scramble for a good public school, there is a despairing recognition that in this respect, geography is destiny: With odds of being accepted into a popular school in another zone slimmer than ever, they either live in a neighborhood with a decent elementary or they don’t.
Shocking, right? What follows is a series of anecdotes of New Yorkers weighing their options–from moving to committing fraud–to get their children into the “right” school. “I will certainly consider some alternative way to game the system by gaining a different address,” says one anonymous parent. “This is my child, who is a really smart kid, and he’s not going to my crummy zoned school. That’s just not going to happen.”
The paper even discovers a couple who have decided to buy $1 million apartment solely because of its zoned school even though they don’t have children yet. I know, I know. Millions of couples plan their home purchses around schools. But this is different. This couple are Manhattan lawyers! Oh, I forgot the best part. This article about education ran in the Times’ Real Estate section.
I live in Manhattan. Please accept my apologies on behalf of my city and it’s paper of record.
Hi! I am the moderator/owner of the ckhomeschoolers yahoogroup. I have two points: first, if they can afford a $1 Million apartment, why can’t they afford private school? and second, as a lawyer who opted out of full-time practice to homeschool my own kids, there is always the homeschooling/tutoring option. Friends who had a daughter on Broadway (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) said this was the only sane option for many New Yorkers.
Janice
I say this not as an excuse but as an explanation: Many people–perhaps most–who dwell in $1M apartments in Manhattan earnestly consider themselves to be middle class. Just typing this reminds me of Spalding Gray, the humorist who once observed of Manhattan, “I don’t live in America. I live on an island off the coast of America.”
I haven’t seen any data on HSing in NYC. Anedotally, I’ve met very few HSing families, which is surprising. It has always struck me as a reasonable alternative to some of the City’s more challenging schools. My guy tells me that the image of homeschooling in NYC lags significantly behind where it is in, well, America.
Hi. I’m the owner/moderator of Core-Net, the other CK Yahoo group. I have to ask, Robert, do your children attend private or public school? Morgan, homeschooling mom of twins.
From what I’ve heard, New York state has one of the strictest homeschooling laws in the country. I remember reading somewhere that the amount of government regulation of HS is inversely correlated with the percent of school-aged kids being HS. It makes sense- the less red tape involved, the more families who are on the fence about it will decide to give it a try.
I found a statistic from a recent NY Post article that the number of homeschoolers in the 5 boroughs was 2,783 as of 2007. That’s compared to 1.1 million kids in the government-run system and roughly 150,000 in private/parochial schools.
Part of the reason many families choose to stay in NYC is that both parents work, which makes homeschooling challenging. Homeschooling is only an “inexpensive” option if you assume that one or other parent doesn’t work outside the home — though I can imagine it might be a fairly appealing option if one or other parent had been laid off.
On the other hand, though in my family situation I we could have managed homeschooling fairly easily, it has seemed, for our family, like a huge burden to add to a parent-child relationship. We supplement in areas where the public schools seem weak, but unless you view local public schools as actively harmful, why not take advantage of what they have to offer?
If I have to teach my kids at home after school in order to have their academic needs met, then why bother enrolling them in the first place? I might as well homeschool them and leave their afternoons & weekends free for a mix of organized activities (sports, dance, 4H, Scouts, etc.) and unstructured play time.