A Cautionary Role Model

Germany, you’ve got it better. In spite of that, America is all too often held up as a role model for higher education. But only the upper class can afford a top-notch education.

It already starts with the search for a kindergarten. Andrew tells us, “We’re sending our daughter to kindergarten at Berkeley Carroll.” Tuition at the Brooklyn private school is $35,000 per year, of course. Andrew already has two kids enrolled there. That can get expensive.

It’s no rarity for upper income Americans to pay on average $250,000 to educate their offspring. The four-year-old children also have to pass competitive application evaluations. In a simulated instruction environment, the kids are closely examined by teachers. The parents stand by outside the door and hope their children make a good impression. Their chances of acceptance are roughly 20 percent, despite annual fees ranging from $17,000 to $35,000.

Things aren’t much better in public schools. Applications for September admission to kindergarten have to be completed and submitted by early March. Schools introduce themselves to parents by way of “open houses” where attendance often exceeds 200 families daily. Admission is often determined by lottery. Anyone living in the wrong zone has more difficulty in getting their children into a quality school.

Education used to be the big equalizing factor in American society. The college dropout rate among students from economically disadvantaged families is on the rise. The disparity between rich and poor has grown by a frightening 50 percent since the end of the 1980s. During the 1950s, a person’s professional success was determined principally by skin color; today, the determining factor is money. As shown by standardized tests, the success rate between rich and poor has developed a 40 percent gap over the past 50 years. Those were the results of a recent Stanford University study.

Countries like Germany and Switzerland should guard and protect their education systems, even if resources are becoming more scarce. And America should remain a role model for us — a cautionary one.