Despite the fact that average premia for housing in high-performing school neighbourhoods and private school tuition are roughly comparable (from my rough numbers upthread), the latter nets FAR more bargaining power at the school level simply because the payor is more easily discernible (or concentrated in its advocacy), and teachers are attuned to the fact that they have a responsibility to use the resources at their disposal effectively.
The funding is virtually the same, but the institutional attitude is light years apart.
The point of the original article is that at some private schools, parents are afraid to voice complaints to the administration, partly because their children could be asked to leave the much-desired school. It's true that public school administrators and teachers are well-entrenched, but so are the children. I have emailed the school superintendent several times, criticizing anti-racist programming and computer programming clubs that exclude boys. At least she reads and replies. She has no power to expel my children from the public schools. Public school parents can run for and lobby the school board, which hires superintendents.
