Is caring deeply about the quality of school a new construct?

[Anonymous]

Granted, as a kid, I may not have been privy to adult conversations about this but when I see myself and all my friends agonizing over where to buy a house and the feeder schools associated with different neighborhoods and the pros and cons of each, I just can't remember parents of kids in my generation doing this. I swear back then people just bought a house they could afford and reasonably liked and the kids just went to the school closest by and that was about it. What created all this angst over schools and their performance and restructuring whole family lives (geographically, financially) based on schools?

[Anonymous]

I grew up in an Upper Middle Class DC family, and it was definitely a thing when I was a kid in the 70's.

I think this is something closely associated with SES. Families with resources have options, which leads them to obsess about those options. Families with fewer resources don't obsess about options they don't have.

My impression is that many families in this area have families who grew up in true middle class, or even working class families. The parents get rich (or at least UMC) and find that their new social circles do things differently. They then attribute those differences to the time period, whereas for me, the ways that UMC raise their kids in DC is very similar to the way I was raised.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Granted, as a kid, I may not have been privy to adult conversations about this but when I see myself and all my friends agonizing over where to buy a house and the feeder schools associated with different neighborhoods and the pros and cons of each, I just can't remember parents of kids in my generation doing this. I swear back then people just bought a house they could afford and reasonably liked and the kids just went to the school closest by and that was about it. What created all this angst over schools and their performance and restructuring whole family lives (geographically, financially) based on schools?

More data is available. Way more ESOL/FARMS kids in some schools. Greater disparities between the academic profiles of different schools, even in prosperous counties like Montgomery.

This focus isn't going away any time soon.

[Anonymous]

I grew up poor and my mother jumped through tons of hoops to get us into the best school within driving distance. this was in the 80s.

[Anonymous]

Not new. I was born in 76 and remember my mom talking about different school districts. As I grew up and made friends with kids from all over she would point out differences in what was offered.

[Anonymous]

Racism, classism, bigotry, resale value, the desire to further bubble-ize snowflakes ....

[Anonymous]

I'm 50. Even back in the day my parents wanted to live in a good school district where the schools were generally safe and the other parents valued the quality of their children's education (and supported it at home).

It's the same sort of thing today but I think that things have gotten more convoluted - everyone putting energy into jumping through hoops to get their kids into this or that center, etc. (test prep beginning in K for instance). It's gotten a bit over the top, IMO.

[Anonymous]

As things become more competitive, and UMC parents perceive a shrinking pie and zero sum game, they look to grasp onto anything "meritocratic" such as success in schools. They also attribute their success in life to credentials. To be sure, DC is the epicenter of this.

[Anonymous]

Income inequality and gentrification mean that the local school may be unacceptable for people who can afford to buy. It's a real thing. Racism plays a role but it's not the only factor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up poor and my mother jumped through tons of hoops to get us into the best school within driving distance. this was in the 80s.

exactly. it is a kind of white/class privilege to assume that the school will be fine just because it is your zoned school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in an Upper Middle Class DC family, and it was definitely a thing when I was a kid in the 70's.

I think this is something closely associated with SES. Families with resources have options, which leads them to obsess about those options. Families with fewer resources don't obsess about options they don't have.

My impression is that many families in this area have families who grew up in true middle class, or even working class families. The parents get rich (or at least UMC) and find that their new social circles do things differently. They then attribute those differences to the time period, whereas for me, the ways that UMC raise their kids in DC is very similar to the way I was raised.

+1

[Anonymous]

My parents were very choosy about what school district a house was in. Of course I didn't know it at the time, but they told me as an adult. As a child, I just thought it was nice that I went to such a good school.

[Anonymous]

Middle class anxiety. Today's young adults are the first generation that will have a lower standard of living and a lower life expectancy than their own parents, on a US population level.

People think they can inoculate their kids against this trend by isolating them in a middle class bubble and stressing out over the "best" schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Middle class anxiety. Today's young adults are the first generation that will have a lower standard of living and a lower life expectancy than their own parents, on a US population level.

People think they can inoculate their kids against this trend by isolating them in a middle class bubble and stressing out over the "best" schools.

I tend to agree with this analysis. I would add that, in nova, there is a real brass ring--UVa admission--that drives many parents' school obsessions, for better or worse.

[Anonymous]

I think it was much less of a consideration where I grew up because it was a small town with a whole lot of farmland around it. Since the school district stretched 30-40 miles in diameter and there weren't any good private options in town, everyone went to the same middle and high schools. There was absolutely some avoidance of the one "bad" elementary school, but the other 10 were considered fine. Moving out of the district entirely was a big undertaking so most people didn't consider it.