6 ms·

Surely the Netherlands has private schools? I don't think the rich are sacrificing anything by this lottery. Some middle-class kids might have to go to a worse

• elygre 8y ago
  No idea about the Dutch school system, and my comment is not about the rich vs the poor. My reflection is more about the general discussion: Is it OK that the court prioritizes "the greater good" over these two individual students? I think I sense different priorities between Europeans and Americans.
  • mcv 8y ago
    It's not so much "the greater good" that's prioritised, but fairness. They don't want rich or savvy kids to have an advantage that other kids don't get. But I think it's possible to improve over these systems in a way that increases efficiency without harming fairness.
  • aianus 8y ago
    I see, I thought you were commenting on the implementation of the lottery in the first place vs. our North American system of rationing good schools using money (either directly through tuition or expensive nearby real estate).
• lumberjack 8y ago
  No. The rich and everyone else send their kids to the same public schools. In the Netherlands people value the idea of living in a classless society. It would not be acceptable for certain people to have their own "special" schools where their kids get "special" education. The way the rich try to get around that is by congregating in the same rich neighbourhoods and sending their kids to the same school. That is why the lottery exists, to distribute the kids evenly in a fair manner.
  • vostok 8y ago
    > No. The rich and everyone else send their kids to the same public schools. They don't send their kids to boarding schools in the UK/US/Switzerland?
    • StudentStuff 8y ago
      Sure, but is such a school giving their child any actual advantage? They'll be in a foreign country taught by likely a lower quality teacher (esp. in US private schools, there is a reason our private teachers make $10k less a year).
      • ghaff 8y ago
        If they want to work in the US/UK/Switzerland? Or perhaps internationally more broadly? Probably. And I wouldn’t assume those private schools and their environment are giving a lower quality education.
        • StudentStuff 8y ago
          I'd not give private schools much credit, they have a rocky track record of sexual abuse and 2nd rate teachers here in the US.
        • Tijdreiziger 8y ago
          There are a lot of schools with bilingual programs (English+Dutch) and the programs are of high quality. Seems simpler to go for such a program, no need to send your kid abroad.
      • sib 8y ago
        Simple economics and public choice theory would say that, if parents are willing to spend lots of money to send their kids to a private school, rather than sending them to public school for free, then they believe (and most likely with good reason) that it is preferable to do so.
• mcv 8y ago
  There are private schools of a sort. They're called "bijzonder onderwijs" (special education), and include religious (protestant, catholic and muslim) schools, Montessori, Dalton and Jena-plan schools, and a bunch of others. But they all follow the exact same rules as public schools, need to meet the same criteria, and are funded in the same way, which means they're equally accessible to rich and poor.
• joelhaasnoot 8y ago
  It depends on private in which sense. The Netherlands has "freedom of education" and equal funding for public and private schools. As long as you can get enough interest and meet quality criteria, you can start a private school and get public funding for it. Additionally, there are some (but very few) private schools which don't take government funding and emphasize small class rooms, etc. Typically only the truly rich kids go to private schools, and only when they have difficulty achieving the standards parents want :)
• Ice_cream_suit 8y ago
  Like in most countries, it is probably linked to social class. I studied at a private school in Amsterdam when I lived in the Netherlands in the 70's. Most of my parents professional colleagues sent their children to private schools too. The reasons included quality of education, availability of certain subjects and the relative lack of troubled and disruptive students. A relative recently married a Dutch man from near Rotterdam. He and his siblings went to private schools. I recall nearby state run schools were pretty dismal. Perhaps things have changed.