To: Ilaine who wrote (35162 ) 11/3/1998 5:17:00 AM From: Wildstar Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 132070
>>As the beneficiary of public education, I have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. I have two sons, aged 10 and 13, both of whom have been in special public GT programs since kindergarten, as mandated by federal government. Many times I humbly contemplate the fact that, while I believe in the free market solution, here in Fairfax County for the GT population private schools are not as good as the local public schools. I also know that those whose children don't test high envy the education my children get, and resent the fact that their children are excluded from enrichment programs. So, except for those in really elite private schools (Georgetown Prep, etc.) my kids and their classmates are the envy of the entire population, all of whom pay through the nose for a very good public school system, but don't necessarily get it. For example, Thomas Jefferson, the elite public highschool, has at least 50 National Merit Scholars every year. The closest competitor has 3. << Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't Fairfax county public schools among the best public schools in the country? I think that they are the exception to the general rule that most private schools are better than most public schools. Also, Thomas Jefferson, while being a public school, gets most of its money from donations by private industry. And not everyone who wants to go gets to go, because you have to pass some type of test. I had a roommate in college who went to Jefferson and he said there were 140 National Merit Scholars in his class. Compare that to the 7 from my pathetic public school in its entire history. -g-