Many San Francisco Liberals Send Their Kid To Private Schools

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

Last year, 29.3 percent of the city's school-age population went to private or religious schools. About 10 percent of children nationwide and 8.7 percent of those in California attend private or parochial schools. Marin County has the second-highest rate in the state at 18.7 percent, followed by San Mateo at 15.4 percent and Napa at 13.4 percent.

San Francisco families had 107 private and parochial schools to choose from last year, about the same number as public ones. But those choices have narrowed since about 20 years ago, when there were 144 private and religious schools in the city.

Both private and public schools in San Francisco have seen declining enrollment over the past decades. Since 1982, private and religious schools have lost 10 percent of their enrollment, and public schools have lost 5.5 percent. In 1982, San Francisco private schools enrolled 27,190 students; last year, they enrolled 24,398 students.

The tuition-free public school district is required to open its financial books to the public, report test scores at every school, and provide a range of other useful information. It is governed by an elected Board of Education, holds public meetings and is tracked by several media outlets.

Private and parochial schools -- arguably a second, shadow school system in San Francisco -- are not governed by the state and receive no public money. They must provide only the most basic information about themselves, including their address and how many students they enroll, to the state's Department of Education. They are not required to give standardized tests or report their demographic data. In general, they fly under the radar of government officials and the media.

In San Francisco,pubic education is for "other" children that liberals supposedly have empathy for.How ironic,San Francisco's liberals are leading the way in private education with all those private school choices.I guess many San Francisco liberals don't want their children going to school with children from "diverse" backgrounds.Imagine that.