Competition For NYC Middle Schools Births Tutoring Industry

The New York Times (4/16, A14, Phillips, Subscription Publication) reports that as "competition for top middle schools" in New York City "has intensified as more families choose to remain in the city and others find themselves unable to afford private schools," with "performance on fourth- and fifth-grade standardized tests is crucial to getting into one of those schools," many parents are paying "hundreds and even thousands of dollars for tutors and for courses" to prepare their children for the tests, "on top of test preparation that almost all elementary schools now provide in class." Meanwhile, the city's Education Department "is switching to a new type of gifted test" for 4- and 5-year-olds, "partly in response to concerns that tutoring and test preparation are influencing the results."