Nobody claims that most private schools are set up to cater to gifted kids: What you get is a whole lot of different schools, catering to different backgrounds

Nobody claims that most private schools are set up to cater to gifted kids: What you get is a whole lot of different schools, catering to different backgrounds and socioeconomic statuses, some of which will cater mostly to gifted kids. This is easy to see in metro areas with a balkanized public education system, like Saint Louis. Your typical child has access to one public school, which could be quite good, or horrible, depending on where it is: The better the school, the more expensive it is to get a house that can sends kids to it. If you don't want to move for your favorite school, you go into one of hundreds of private schools. The differences amongst them are so wide, locals ask others where they went to high school as a shortcut to get a lot of information about them. On the gifted end, you will find private schools where less than 15% of the class is stuck "only" at grade level in math, and that's probably because they are way ahead somewhere else. Those schools tend to be so interested in high performers that there's a great chance there's quite a bit of financial aid for those with blue collar parents. So yes, most private schools are definitely not better: Hell, I'd argue that in a city like this, most private schools are worse academically. But when there are enough private schools, self-assortment surrounds kids with others that are more like them, whether it's athletic focus, qualifying as gifted, following Christian Science, or making sure most girls are rich enough to own horses. Whether this is good or bad for the city is a different story, but I suspect the gifted kids come out ahead. And yes, all of this will only happen in large enough metros with enough children. A gifted child in a small town is probably served more or less equally badly by public and private schools.