From Harlow Unger's `How To Pick A Perfect Private School'--Part 9

The 1999 book by Harlow Unger, "How To Pick A Perfect Private School" indicated how the elite private prep schools of the U.S. power elite's private prep school system contradict democratic and egalitarian values and provide their mainly wealthy students with a different educational experience than what most U.S. public schools provide most students who graduate from U.S. public schools:

"If your child is accepted by, and enrolls in, private school, both your child and you...will enter a new educational and social world unknown to (indeed unimagined by) the vast majority of Americans whose children routinely attend public schools. Most have never seen or even heard of America's most prestigious private schools. Most respond with blank stares at the mention of such names as Exeter, Hotchkiss or even Collegiate...Attending private school...is a privilege...

"...Enrollment in a private school will mean your child will join a private club. Some of these `clubs' can often ease entry into the most selective colleges and universities and into the halls of power and leadership in business, industry, government and the profession. Membership in such clubs often lasts a lifetime, and can produce...associations that last equally long.

"Flagrant violation of private-school rules, however, can mean swift expulsion from that club...Many private schools...are the way they are because those who own them...want their schools to be that way...Again, they are private! So if you disagree witih the way a school is run, don't enroll your child!"

From Harlow Unger's `How To Pick A Perfect Private School'--Part 8

The admissions offices of most U.S. elite universities, in an undemocratic way, generally grant preferential treatment to student applicants who have graduated from one of the U.S. power elite's private prep schools--and not from a U.S. public high school. As Harlow Unger's 1999 book "How To Pick A Perfect Private School" observed:

""...About a dozen of the most selective boarding schools of the Northeast, which...limit admissions.., send a disproportionately high number of their students to the most selective colleges and universities...Phillips Academy...has a physical plant that is larger and more extensive than many colleges...More than one-fourth of the typical graduating class goes to Ivy League colleges...Andover [Phillips Academy] and Exeter [Phillips Exeter Academy] along with...boarding schools as Groton, Hotchkiss, St. Paul's and Deerfield and...New York City day schools as Collegiate, Dalton and Horace Mann, place disproportionately large numbers of their graduating seniors in the most selective colleges and universities..."

From Harlow Unger's `How To Pick A Perfect Private School'--Part 7

In his 1998 book, "How To Pick A Perfect Private School," Harlow Unger indicated how Catholic parochial/private schools differ from U.S. public school system schools and the elite prep schools of the U.S. power elite's private school system by writing the following:

"...Catholic schools, like most private schools, refuse to admit...disruptive children...Children who don't obey the rules are expelled. Public schools must by law deal with all children, and, therefore, incur far higher costs handling disruptive, emotionally disturbed, physically handicapped or learning-disabled children...

"...The academic quality of most Catholic schools--especially parochial schools--is far below that of most selective independent schools...Only 44 percent of 8th-grade students in Catholic schools achive the highest level of reading proficiency..."

From Harlow Unger's `How To Pick A Perfect Private School'--Part 6

In his 1999 book, How To Pick A Perfect Private School, Harlow Unger wrote the following about the U.S. power elite’s private school educational system:

“…Day students make up 20 percent of the student body at…such highly selective schools as Choate, Lawrenceville, Taft, and Phillips Academy at Andover, Massachusetts. At Groton, Deerfield and Phillips Exeter Academy, day students make up more than 10 percent of the student bodies…

“…Graduating seniors from the Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., go on to Brown, Dartmouth, Harvard and…Stanford University…The Frisch School in Paramus, New Jersey…sends its graduates to Harvard and Columbia…Iona Preparatory School…regularly sends graduates to Cornell…and Yale…”

From Harlow Unger's `How To Pick A Perfect Private School'--Part 5:

In his 1999 book, How To Pick A Perfect Private School, Harlow Unger indicated how even the prep school students in the U.S. power elite’s private school educational system who don’t score very high on their SATs have apparently still been admitted into certain prestigious U.S. colleges during the last 20 years:

“…20 of the 43 members in a recent graduating class at one of America’s finest private day schools only scored in the 500-600 range in the verbal SATs—well below the 800 maximum possible score. But…those kids with SAT scores in the 500-600 range are now attending such colleges as Duke, University of Pennsylvania and Swarthmore…”

“Chances are that you and your child will be amazed…by the magnificent facilities at most…private schools. They’re far better than at most public schools—better even than at many colleges…

“…Even with a scholarship to pay for all or part of the tuition, there are heavy extra costs at a private school—clothes, because many private schools have dress codes, which can often add $250 to $500 a year to total costs…Aid from private schools is…limited…Status and snob appeal…are all too often the motives of some parents who send their children to private schools…

“…Independent private schools…have an average student-teacher ratio of 9.8 or one teacher for every 10 students. In sharp contrast, the average public school has a student-teacher ratio of 17.4, or more than 50 percent more.

“And that’s why…parents send their children to private schools—especially independent private schools…”

Unger also indicated how some of the prep schools in the U.S. power elite’s private school educational system differ from most U.S. public schools:

From Harlow Unger's `How To Pick A Perfect Private School'--Part 4:

In his 1999 book, How To Pick A Perfect Private School, Harlow Unger indicated from where the U.S. power elite’s undemocratic private school system tends to select its student body:

“…Unlike public schools, private schools can pick the kids they want…Now that may sound elitist to some…Most private schools limit their enrollment…

“…There are a lot of private school children from extremely wealthy families. About one-third come from families with annual incomes of more than $100,000 [in 1999 money]…More than 16 percent of the kids at private schools in America are students of color, including…Asian-American…students. Foreign students make up an additional 3 percent of the student population at independent schools…

“…The prestigious Lawrenceville School, in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, near Princeton, reaches outside the community to draw children…Its student body includes children from about 20 nations. In Lakeville, Connecticut, at the Hotchkiss School, a famed preparatory school that sends about one-third of its graduates to Ivy League…colleges,…10 percent are foreign nationals. At…Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, half the seniors go to Ivy League schools each year…About 10 percent are international students…”

From Harlow Unger's `How To Pick A Perfect Private School'--Part 3:

In his 1999 book, How To Pick A Perfect Private School, Harlow Unger indicated how the preppie graduates of the U.S. power elite’s private school system undemocratically occupy a disproportionate number of leadership positions within U.S. society:

“…Although students from private schools represent only 12 percent of all school children in the United States, they fill 40 percent of the seats at the most selective…colleges. As they become adults, they fill a disproportionately large number of leadership positions in business, finance and government as during their higher education. More than 10 percent of the chief executives of America’s 1,000 largest corporations, for example, graduated from just four universities—Yale, Harvard, Princeton and Stanford…”

From Harlow Unger's `How To Pick A Perfect Private School'--Part 2:

In his 1999 book, How To Pick A Perfect Private School, Harlow Unger wrote the following about the U.S. private school educational system:

“Of the…school children in America,…nearly 11.2% attend private schools…Of the more than 111,000 schools in America, just over 26,000, or about 23.5% are private. The vast majority of these, however, are operated by religious organizations and churches. Only 1,500 private schools are `independent’ or unaffiliated with any church or state agency…

“…According to the U.S. Department of Education, private schools spend $36.54 per pupil for library facilities—more than double the…$17.58 spent per pupil in public schools…”

From Harlow Unger's `How To Pick A Perfect Private School'--Part 1:

In his 1999 book, How To Pick A Perfect Private School, Harlow Unger indicated how the U.S. power elite's private school system differs from the U.S. public school system:

"Instead of about 25 students per teacher, as in public schools, private schools assign only about a dozen students to each teacher (9.8 in independent schools that are unaffiliated with any church or government agency), thus guaranteeing the individual attention each child needs to thrive intellectually...

"Unlike private schools, public schools are required by law to accept all children in the school district, and a teacher has no choice but to admit them into the classroom...Private schools try not to admit...unruly children...The handful that slip through are summarily expelled as soon as they begin to disrupt school routine...Private-school teachers are thus free to devote all their time to teaching instead of dealing with disciplinary problems..."