San Francisco's Pre-School Class System

Look at what San Francisco's well-to-do (or those who merely want their children to brush shoulders with the scions of the wealthy) will go through in order to get their children into the right sort of pre-school:

Never once did I have any clue that having a child in San Francisco would lead me down a road of such agony and disappointment. Please don't think for one instance that my son, who is amazingly sweet, radiant and utterly blameless, has anything to do with my agonizing dismay or that I'm at all unhappy with motherhood — quite the opposite, it's a highlight in my life. My defeat has all to do with the horribly broken, outrageous and utterly unfair preschool application process and school system in San Francisco.

I kid you not that we were asked to attend open houses, tours and interviews (it was mandatory that both parents be present) all during the work day (I took many mornings and even a few days off work to accommodate these requests), write essays about how our child and our family are a good fit for each school, explain our toddler’s behavior, temperament and unique qualities, write about our two year olds separation anxiety, explain our theories on structure and discipline, give a list of referrals that the schools could call to question, put forward our interest in fundraising and volunteering, attach a family photo and pay between a $50 and $200 fee per application.

After going through all this, the child was still rejected by each one of the "top ten" pre-schools.

Get the whole story over there.

We first saw this tale over at Joanne Jacobs' place; consider reading her take on it.

Heh. We knew that this sort of thing went on back east, (especially in New York City) but when we learned that it was also occurring in far left-leaning San Francisco, well, .... we not only found it to be hypocritical but somehow just plain funnier.
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