> When you have a group of dedicated, wealthy, involved parents, these negative incentives can be overcome. I'd go further and say you don't even need the weal

> When you have a group of dedicated, wealthy, involved parents, these negative incentives can be overcome. I'd go further and say you don't even need the wealth -- just dedicated and involved parents. Success will flow from that. Trouble is, it's a vicious cycle: the kids who need the most help often have the least dedicated and involved parents. People claim that private schools are better than public for all sorts of reasons, but I think the main reason probably is that the parents who care enough to put their kids in private school usually also care enough to be dedicated to and involved in their child's education.