Are the private schools that much better near B'more than say those in DC or other local counties (doubtful)? Or is it a strong Black presence at those schools? I know in Chicago it used to be that Chicago Lab school everyone wanted to go so maybe this is the same thing.
I don't think the private schools are suppose to be so much better than the ones in DC like St. Albans or Georgetown Country Day or Madeira in Nova. It's just the best private schools in the state of Maryland are in and around Baltimore.
I think the idea of the "DMV" being this one contiguous uniform area is relatively new. It seems like it became a thing in the 80's and 90's.
Native Marylanders seem to view Maryland as being Maryland, DC as DC, and Virginia as being Virginia and all three having different cultures.
So the native Marylanders are going to be more tied into Maryland institutions and more specifically Baltimore because Baltimore is where their money comes from, not DC. Think of the families like the Murray's, founders of the Baltimore Afro-American. They have a long history there and a long history of attending those schools.
I think PG County saw it's boom primarily from DC transplants not native Marylanders. Prior to the 80's, PG was country farmland. The old black Maryland money wasn't living out there. PG County was assessible being next door to the black east side of DC. So it was a natural place for DC natives to relocate to if they got some money and wanted extra space. Also for black Virginians who got money. They seem to move into Maryland, too. So you got all these groups, Virginia transplants, DC transplants, transplants to the DMV area from around the country and the native Marylanders.
The native Marylanders are still tied to Baltimore even if they now work in DC, so it makes sense that they settle in areas where it's easy to get in between Baltimore and DC. Like I said, if they are not in Moco - Bethesda, Silver Springs, Rockville, then many of them are in Howard, Anne Arundel, and Baltimore Counties.
PG County is out of the way for them. Plus there is heavy crime, lacks a lot of infrastructure, and the public school system is supposedly trash. So if you have the money, it seems like you have no choice but to send your kids to private school.
I would never move to an expensive area to access a private school. I pay now for a better public school district but if we were going to fork over $15k+ per year for a non-Catholic private school I would be moving back to the mixed working/middle class neighborhood we lived in before and save a good deal of money in mortgage payments.
We have some friends that move to the poshest areas and pay for the best private schools. I don't get it. Unless they are going to get a full scholarship and save on college tuition there is no real ROI to that proposition. Not like all their kids end up at Harvard either. Though more end up Ivy League than the average public school Black person, in fact a lot go to HBCUs and state schools. That's fine and I went to a state school and my brother went HBCU but thank God our parents didn't blow $250k for our outcome.
I think you have to look at it as that when you're in the position to set your kids up to advance, you are also simultaneously setting up certain social safety nets that will catch them from falling out of their position. A few of those safety nets form around socialization and networks.
Moving to a high earning area sets up your kids to be socialized around other high earning and ambitious families. They develop a high powered network from that. Layer on top of that the network they get from attending a good private school. Layer on top of that the network they get from attending a good college. Layer on top of that the network they get access to joining a fraternity, so on and so forth. Your network becomes full proof and you develop the skills to socially navigate those environments.
For some, it doesn't make sense to get your kid into a top private school but still live in the hood. It's more than the education. It creates social challenges. Which is why the study came out that the sons of wealthy black families end up falling out of their class because they get exposed to or caught up in street life, while the daughters from those same families fair much better. For some folks, they are trying to cut access to negative elements that can influence their children as much as possible.
Also, what is the deal with Catholic private schools? They're not really popular here and I went to a top private Catholic high school. They're just not seen as being the most desirable that everyone is clamoring to get into. It's the independent schools that are the most desirable, like you mentioned, Lab and a few others like Latin and Parker.
