On Fri, 8 Oct 1999, Dan Fabulich wrote:
> Apparently Bryan Moss wrote:
> > Question: Do parents, the people who would be funding this operation
> > in the absense of the state, have any serious economic incentives to
> > give their children a good education? I'm saying a big NO.
My parents struck a very interesting balance with myself and my brothers -- they said we had to pay half. Now this was in the day and age when someone 17-22 could probably save half a year of college tuition in a summer of work. But I would say from personal experience that it is both a good compromise & motivator.
> Yes, that explains why parents never pay lots of money to send their kids
> to high quality private schools. And why no parent would ever sacrifice
> his/her life for the life of their child.
Yes, the "perceived benefits" are very wide ranging. The most superficial (but nonetheless real) are those of a parent touting the acceptance or success of their child at an exclusive institution to a "competitor" whose children have not achieved similar success.
Robert