<p>Pizzagirl,</p>
<p>And as I keep saying again, what’s the universal professional norm in your profession may not be applicable to other professions. </p>
<p>Business consultant or other similar professions’ norms aren’t necessarily universalized ones in other professions. </p>
<p>Why you don’t seem to be getting this, I don’t know. </p>
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<p>Actually, parent-teacher conferences in middle/high school took place in large spaces like gymnasiums so I was there for the entire parent-teacher conference from beginning to end. Thus, I was in the position to witness various examples of upper/upper-middle class parents loudly yelling about “paying their taxes” and “your beholden to me” nonsense in all its dubious glory. </p>
<p>Other classmates serving as translators or volunteer assistants in setting up saw the same thing. And some wonder why so few of us wanted to go into K-12 teaching as a career. </p>
<p>As for #2, that’s not always the case…then or now. Many upper/upper-middle class kids who attended NYC private schools for K-8 opted to attend Stuy or one of the other specialized high schools over continuing on to their boarding school. I’ve also known many classmates who turned down admission to private NYC/boarding schools for Stuy and plenty of Stuy/specialized HS rejects…including many siblings of HS classmates who ended up attending NYC private/boarding schools. </p>
<p>After all, folks like Chuck Schumer, William Kunstler, etc could have sent their kids to any private/boarding school if they desired…yet their kids chose to take the test and attend Stuy once they were admitted for some reason. </p>
<p>It really depends on whether they want to be around a critical mass of highly engaged students/teachers with strong interests/capabilities in STEM, less handholding from the teachers/staff for students with a more independent minded bent, a more highly competitive campus environment versus a collaborative nurturing one, more socio-economic diversity, not desiring to around a much greater critical mass of boorish “you’re beholden to me” upper/upper-middle class kids/parents, etc.</p>