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| From the Editor: Worthy Notions |
Edifying Aspirations
Dwight Cass
05/03/2004
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Private education is now indelibly linked in the popular imagination with the
gross caricature of desperate parents frantically attempting to secure a seat
for their child in one of the nation’s prestigious independent schools.
Angst-inducing anecdotes about private school admissions are legion, and are
repeated so often they verge on apocryphal.
 How many times have we heard the
sad saga of Jack Grubman, the disgraced former telecom equity analyst for
Citigroup, who allegedly upgraded one of the firm’s investment banking clients
in exchange for Sandy Weill’s help getting his child into an elite Manhattan
private school? (Indeed, in metropolitan areas like Washington D.C. or New York
City, the number of applicants for the best schools far surpasses the desks
available, making the process especially nerve-racking.) Add to this the widely
held fallacy that the right kindergarten is the crucial first step in a series
of successes that will inevitably culminate in a degree from Harvard, and we
have a potent formula for widespread parental anxiety.
This is unfortunate;
it obscures the true challenge we confront when deciding the path our children’s
education will take. Gaining entrance to our preferred school may, in fact, be
an ordeal, but most of us have overcome far greater tests. The real issue is, of
course, deciding what combination of skills, experience and values will best
enhance our children’s human and intellectual capital, so they may fulfill their
roles within our families and pursue happy and rewarding lives.
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