Troy Closson’s New York Times piece, Rising Costs and Competition at NY Private Schools Have Parents on Edge, offers a clear view of how New York’s school system actually works. Families with resources move smoothly through the process, while everyone else is left navigating a system that is opaque and uneven. There is no exaggeration in his piece. It reflects what parents encounter every day.
I was quoted saying that “the ladder is losing its rungs.” That line was not meant to be dramatic. It is simply what I see in practice. When tuition reaches unprecedented levels and public options vary sharply by neighborhood, parents are not choosing schools. They are calculating risk and managing constraints.
The larger issue is structural. Families will always find ways to optimize within the options they have. The city has to decide whether it wants an education system that functions as a genuine public good or one that continues moving toward a marketplace model. Until that decision is made, the pressures on parents and the gap in access will continue to expand.