OP-ED: I Would Totally Send My Daughter to Public School, but It’s Important to Me That She Tries Water Polo

I nearly changed my mind about wealthy Penn alumni sending their children to private schools after reading the two editorials written about public schools in the Daily Pennsylvanian last week.

For a second, I was even convinced that sending my future daughter to a public school with simpletons would be good for her. However, then I thought about how inconvenient it’d be to have to drive over an hour just so that my daughter could attend water polo practice. I mean, I obviously wouldn’t be the one driving, but UberBlack is not cheap!

It’s imperative that my daughter attends a school that offers niche, privileged sports. How else will she be a nationally ranked athlete unless she joins a sport that less than 5,000 people in America play? It’s not that I think my child should be shielded in a blanket of privilege — I just have very specific, privileged requirements for my child’s schooling that no public school can satisfy. Such a shame!

When my parents sent me to a private school, their priorities were to pay large sums of money for a fast-track to the Ivy League and to give me a personalized education with smaller classes. Clearly, the less fortunate just don’t have those same priorities. If they did, they’d send their kids to private schools.

For me, my sole priority is that my daughter play water polo. It’s not that I want her swimming in privilege; I just want her swimming in a pool playing a sport that no spectators, coaches, or players understand.