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It's cute, and deliberately misleading, the way the story frames the issue. Regarding income, the latest Census Bureau report says that the top quintile of household income begins at $105,900. The top 5%, again of household income, begins at $196,000. The story talks about the top 10% of earners averaging $253,000. That is an average, not a median, and is a figure pulled waaaaay up by a tiny number of very wealthy individuals. The typical private school parent is middle or upper middle class, not mega-rich, and is making a very substantial financial sacrifice.

In addition, public schools, on average, are more expensive than private schools. The story focuses on a handful of elite private schools in the $30,000-plus range. Such schools do indeed exist, but they are atypical.

I live in DC. This year's Census Bureau report on public school financing showed that DC public schools have total revenues just shy of $30,000 per pupil. That is far in excess of the tuition at all but a handful of the local private schools, and is not far short of Sidwell Friends, etc. DC is the most expensive system in the country, of course, which just goes to show that money alone doesn't buy quality.