this is not out of the norm in NYC, especially at the low income level. Take exhibit A - success academies chain. There are about 47 in total , most around NYC

this is not out of the norm in NYC, especially at the low income level. Take exhibit A - success academies chain. There are about 47 in total , most around NYC. They are an independent school which only the poor can get into. So it is private but paid with tax dollars. Because it is taxpayer-funded, once you apply, they can't discriminate - the only requirement to acceptance is that you are poor. Yet the best students go there, and the school is so good that if it were a separate education system, it would be the best performing education system in the entire United States. How do they do it ? Simple - they screen parents. They make the bar really high so only the most motivated parents will jump all the hoops to get their kids in. And there is the problem - it is not the profit, but rather the fact that we refuse to accept that some kids are in a better situation to be educated than others. Whether due to better home environment, raw talent, good base, not sure. However, refusing to deal with this fact, only hurts kids. How ? Well, the alternative to Success Academies is no 10,000 poor kids receiving elite education. Let us dump those kids back to the system of mediocrity where they were condemned until 15 or so years ago. That's what equality really means unfortunately - everyone getting equally mediocre government-sanctioned education