“Please! Please send your child to my private school!”

by David Safier

I find this amusing. A new private school, Avenues, is opening its doors in Manhattan. Lots of parents sent applications to the school of their children, and, most likely, to other schools as well. When some of them got accepted to established schools, they "rejected" Avenues. And they got letters begging them to reconsider.

“This is going to be the most important new school ever opened,” Mr. Greenberg wrote, “anywhere in the world.” He called the administration of the school, to serve kindergarten to grade 12, “the most talented leadership team ever,” and said there was little comparison between Avenues and the schools the children were currently attending, which he described as “fine.”

“I don’t in any way mean this to be demeaning,” he wrote. “But I would not be forthcoming or truthful if I did not say there is absolutely no comparison.”

A school opening its doors for the first time, with no track record, says it's the best in Manhattan, if not the world. Hilarious.

Even better. It's being started by a guy named Chris Whittle. Anyone remember Channel One, the school news channel which fed a few minutes of news into classes? That was Whittle's brainchild. Didn't work. He also started Edison schools, which tried to privatize the management of public schools. Also flopped, though its problem may have been it was before its time.

Now Whittle has another "best idea in the world," with some big money backers,who he always seems to be able to attract to his next big thing. Good luck, Chris (he said, sarcastically).