Journeys in Learning Beyond the Classroom

February 28, 2003

Affluence Hurts

o the Editor:

The parents of Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., in their single-minded pursuit of the perfect designer education, have priced their community beyond the reach of anyone but the affluent, white and young ("In Gilded Schools, Scrimping Lessons: Even Affluent Suburbs Face Hard Choices in Leaner Times," news article, Feb. 25).

Pity is, they have unwittingly deprived their privileged children of the best education: that of a community rich with the wisdom of the old, the diversity of many experiences and an understanding of lives different from their own.
ELIZABETH ORAM
New York, Feb. 25, 2003