What do elite private schools owe the public?:

What do elite private schools owe the public?

Posted by Valerie Strauss on November 25, 2012 at 12:45 pm

Here are some questions about elite private schools that are raised in a probing article in the latest edition of Independent School magazine:

Why aren’t more independent leaders speaking out about the pedagogical perversions of No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top?

Why aren’t more independent school leaders speaking out against growing inequality?

As the nation moves deeper into a winner-takes-more economic model, do the possible negative consequences on students’ college admissions cause most heads and other independent school leaders to avoid a difficult topic that might raise eyebrows and hurt admission prospects?

Are many independent schools gilding the lily?

What are independent schools? They are nonprofit private schools that are self-determining in mission and program and are governed by independent boards. Sidwell Friends School, where President Obama sends his daughters Malia and Sasha, is an independent school.

The article is titled, “Our 1% Problem: Independent Schools and the Income Gap,” and is written by Fred Bartels, who teaches online computer programming courses to students at independent schools in New York and Connecticut and who previously worked for 28 years teaching and integrating information technology at Rye Country Day School in New York