Comments on: The Brooklyn preschool exposé

By: AesopFan

AesopFan — Sat, 13 Jul 2019 18:22:19 +0000

Status anxiety led to the college admissions pay-to-plan scandals.

By: Ruth

Ruth — Sat, 13 Jul 2019 08:07:06 +0000

As a “person of color” the article only enforced stereotypes of the rich.

Pity that rich, historical playschools can do what most public schools no longer have time or stomach for: dress up like Pilgrims and play, play, play.

By: Oblio

Oblio — Sat, 13 Jul 2019 02:02:44 +0000

I have known Sarah Lyall, the author, for nearly 40 years. I thought she did a marvelous job reporting on intense status anxiety among the new elite, especially as they compete with a newer and even more fashionable elite. It is probably hard to imagine that the rich and well-connected of Brooklyn Heights would fear that they aren’t rich and well-connected enough, and that their offspring might get crowded out, but the reality is that in the current environment, what they have is as nothing compared with the really rich or really fashionable. If Sarah had an agenda, I missed it.
Status anxiety might be the most basic driver of human behavior: everyone wants a little bit more than they have now, and everyone fears the loss of relative status as being almost unbearably painful. On the whole, this is a good thing, and if it weren’t a good thing, there would be nothing we could do about it anyway.

By: Richard Saunders

Richard Saunders — Fri, 12 Jul 2019 20:39:26 +0000

There are many private schools in L.A. that are hard to get into, and one of the hardest is the school operated by the College of Education at UCLA — UES-Seeds. It’s so selective that when you hear about a kid who got in, the first question is, “Which studio?”

By: AesopFan

AesopFan — Fri, 12 Jul 2019 20:39:10 +0000

Molly Brown on July 12, 2019 at 2:40 am said:
..I almost feel sorry for people like your friend – like a spouse who never sees it coming – when this country splits up they’ll be shocked it happened, and at who’s on the other side.
* * *
You are right about speaking up, I think, but it’s easier to advocate than practice.
This conclusion will probably hold up, and reminds me of the old joke about the guy who gets to heaven finally and is having an interview with St. Peter, who asks what he thinks.
“It’s great,” he replies, “but I was kind of surprised to see a couple of people that I never thought would be here.”
“Yeah,” says St. Peter, “but there were an awful lot of them who were surprised to see you!”

By: n.n

n.n — Fri, 12 Jul 2019 18:36:52 +0000

Should be “so-called liberals”

Not at all. Liberalism is, in principle, a divergent ideology, which evokes a perception of tolerance. Principles matter.

By: BR

BR — Fri, 12 Jul 2019 15:55:24 +0000

I read the article, but not the comments. A little background: I lived in D.C. for a long time, where my kids attended charter schools and we mixed with families that attended public, charter, and private schools.

I wasn’t really upset or offended by the depiction of the parents, but I wasn’t impressed with Ms. Morgano, at least as far as she was portrayed.

We went through a few administration changes in our schools and inevitably the culture and traditions change. Most of the time it’s not so severe you can’t roll with it (and the “Met Gala” thing didn’t strike me as being super-crazy). Besides, the turnover (students, teachers, and administrators) in D.C. schools is probably a bit more frequent anyway so I think most families are used to it.

But Ms. Morgano, as far as I could tell, was violating one of the major rules regarding engaging families; an educator displaying shameless, public favoritism of certain families in front of the entire school community. I guess her preferring celebrity lent the story it’s “let hate rich folks” angle, but to me that was the real scandal.

By: Molly Brown

Molly Brown — Fri, 12 Jul 2019 06:40:01 +0000

Gerard,
I understand your reluctance to ‘rock the boat’ with an old friend you rarely see, I have very much the same reaction in similar situations. And I refuse to let politics destroy friendships. But I am trying more and more to find ways to stand my ground – so to speak – without generating a conflict. Sometimes I’ll respond to a remark with; ‘Actually, I don’t agree with that.’ Neutral tone, full stop, change subject. Sometimes, I’ll joke and say; ‘You don’t REALLY want to know what I think about that – it’d set your hair on fire!’.
One reason I feel I must get comfortable doing this is basic honesty. Silence is acquiescence. And anyone who says something deliberately provocative (and make no mistake – your friend’s remark WAS deliberately provocative) needs to understand that people they value may have a completely different opinion. Living in an echo chamber is not doing them any favors.
I almost feel sorry for people like your friend – like a spouse who never sees it coming – when this country splits up they’ll be shocked it happened, and at who’s on the other side.
The kindest thing might be to give them a hint here and now.

By: Barry Meislin

Barry Meislin — Fri, 12 Jul 2019 05:51:43 +0000

Should be “so-called liberals”….

By: Barry Meislin

Barry Meislin — Fri, 12 Jul 2019 05:50:24 +0000

Parents want the best for their children. It’s only natural:
https://nypost.com/2019/07/06/top-carranza-executives-ditched-their-residential-zones-for-whiter-schools/

What has also become “natural”, alas, is the need for all too many so-called to engage in the politics of destruction. The more they do it, the more they seem to enjoy it.

Gosh, it’s almost(!) as though the Democrats have forgotten all the important lessons of history….
https://nypost.com/2019/07/06/liberals-are-eating-their-friends-as-well-as-their-enemies/