When states, municipalities and school districts (about 13,000 of the latter in the U.S.) are forced to increase class size, lay-off teachers (almost always the most recently hired), cut programs and reduce course selection, most people have to grin and bear it. Public education is the only option, and if it deteriorates, well, that’s life. That half the high school students in large urban school districts drop out is just the way it goes. And over the last thirty years, we have been falling steadily in world rankings from science and math to reading and writing competency. By some standards, from first to nineteenth in the developed world. Scholarships and student aid is disappearing in many colleges and universities, as such post-secondary educational institutions also face the harsh economic reality around them.
California cut so many classes from community colleges that it almost (“indefinitely postponed” after a storm of protests) began charging higher tuition for over-subscribed classes – usually those necessary for graduation – even above the rapidly accelerating cost of state education. In the private sector, some colleges have found another solution to higher costs: “Thanks to the recent recession, more colleges are giving seats to wealthier students especially international or wait-listed applicants who are willing to pay full freight. [In the fall of 2010], Williams College began admitting more international students who could pay full tuition, and will reintroduce loans into its financial-aid packages this year. Middlebury College and Wake Forest University began looking at wait-listed students' financial status as a factor in admissions last year. And Tufts University, which was able to admit all students on a ‘need-blind’ basis where they pledge to admit students regardless of their ability to pay in 2007 and 2008, has reverted to being ‘need-aware’ for some applicants meaning that it takes an applicant's financial status into account.” SmartMoney.com, February 11, 2011.
Money talks, but for the children of the 1%, it literally screams with delight. I recently looked at the top 20 prep schools (according to Forbes Magazine) – ranked by a combination of how many graduates placed in the top universities (called the “Ivy/MIT/Stanford pipeline”), student-faculty ratio, number of faculty members with advanced degrees and endowment – to see how expensive these schools really are and whether an ordinary mortal could think of sending their child (no, children… picture these costs for more than one child) to insure that they are on equal academic footing in college with these scions of America’s wealthiest classes… to make sure that the power elite cannot perpetuate their power and control through education. Well, guess what, the elite win, and everyone else loses. Here are the schools (note the number of such schools in and around Wall Street) and the tuition (some with board) numbers:
1. Trinity School, New York City, $36,120; $36,620 for Grade 12 (2010-2011)
2. Horace Mann, Bronx, NY, $37,275 (2011-2012)
3. Phillips Academy Andover [above], Andover, Mass, $32,200 day/$41,300 boarding (2010-2011)
4. Brearley, New York City, $32,200 day/$41,300 boarding (2010-2011)
5. Roxbury Latin, West Roxbury, Mass, $20,800 (2010-2011)
6. Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, NH, $34,890 (day)/$45,315 boarding (2012-2013)
7. Collegiate, New York City, $35,700 (2010-2011)
8. St. Paul's, Concord, NH, $44,400 (boarding only) (2010-2011)
9. Spence, New York City, $30,000 (day only) (2011)
10. Winsor, Boston, Mass, $32,250 (2009-2010)
11. Chapin, New York City, $33,400 (2010-2011)
12. Harvard-Westlake, Los Angeles, CA, $29,200 (2010-2011)
13. Dalton, New York City, $ 44,135 (2011)
14. Lawrenceville School, Lawrenceville, NJ, $38,725 (day)/$47,540 (boarding) (2010-2011)
15. Groton School, Groton, Mass, $37,200 (day)/$48,895 (boarding) (2010-2011)
16. Milton Academy, Milton, Mass., Upper School, $45,720 (boarding)/$37,530 (day) (2011)
17. College Preparatory School, Oakland, CA, $31,250 (2010-2011)
18. Noble and Greenough School, Dedham, Mass., $35,400 (day)/$40,500 (boarding) (2010-2011)
19. Hopkins School, New Haven, CT, $33,700 for the 2012-2013 school year
20. Deerfield Academy, Deerfield, Mass., $45,775 (boarding) (2010-2011)
So the only standards that have not fallen seem to be in the richest public school districts (where parents often chip in with cash and other subsidies) and private schools like the fine institutions noted above. For the rest of America, its contracting mediocrity with a pledge that they will have to compete head-to-head with the rising educational standards in our fiercest competitive global economic powerhouses. Unprepared. Under-educated. Unable to provide the skills that the future demands or earn the kind of living that would remotely support the lifestyle they grew up with. Go budget cutters, go… the elite will finance your campaigns, fight for increased austerity and additional budget cuts… because its saves them taxes, and they and their families are not really touched by the realities of such fiscal contractions… until the gates in their gated communities just aren’t high enough to protect them anymore.
I’m Peter Dekom, and I always wonder why societies seem incapable of learning lessons the easy way.
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