[EDINVA]

I’m pretty familiar with one of those schools. These kids aren’t just smart. They’re way beyond smart. They are also extraordinarily disciplined and focused. As a former student at that school once told me, they are all “control freaks” who won’t let alcohol or drugs interfere with achieving their goals. They are challenged in every single class and all their classes are on an advanced or AP level. You just can’t do that in your local high school.

I would note that I never saw snobbery exhibited as it is at some more affluent public schools. Not once. Those kids had respect for each other and for their teachers. They were proud to go to that school, but honestly I never saw snobbery.

(did you mean to say h.s. should be one of the MOST egalitarian times?)

[max americana]

As a private school grad, we were snobs’ but not in a bad way. I actually thought that may be it was the tie and sweater I wore that attracted the girls from other schools, but I will have to say yes, we were all control freaks who used our minds to compete and learn.

Thank you Mom and Dad for not making me go to some BS crap public school.

[x]

Good posts. You really can't make education egalitarian. If it's not magnet schools, it's tracking, and if it's not that it's private schools or enrichment programs or tutoring. And trying to smooth or level everything out into sameness only results in mediocrity in education.

My brothers were in honors math and science in high school, but there wasn't an honors track in the things I may have been good at, so I missed out on some opportunities. In comparison with what high school was like when I was there, I can only applaud magnet schools. If you can get similar results with tracking, fine, but somebody's going to complain about inegalitarianism whatever you do to provide an enriched program for students who can benefit from it.