Can Rich Parents Make Special Requests at a Public School?

My children attend a public elementary school in one of the country’s largest school systems. The school is notably diverse; more than 40 percent of the students are low-income, and nearly 10 percent live in temporary housing, while a sizable minority come from upper income brackets and live in million-dollar homes. The school has a mix of Latino, Black, Asian and white students. Some parents did not graduate from high school, while others have Ph.D.s, J.D.s or M.D.s.

There is a tendency for some parents — most of whom are affluent and highly educated — to request that their children be placed with the “best” teacher each year. In some cases, these parents have threatened to leave the school if their children are not given their preferred teacher, and it is widely agreed upon by this set of parents who the best teachers are. These requests are against school policy, but the school’s administration often acquiesces because it is in the school’s interest to retain these wealthier and better-educated families. This is done to bolster the school’s reputation, and because these affluent parents contribute time and money to the Parent Teacher Association.

I find it unethical both for these parents to make such demands and for the school to honor them. When a certain set of parents choose their children’s teachers each year, children whose families do not make such requests often get placed with the less-preferred teachers, creating inequity. This also skews class assignments and unnecessarily complicates the jigsaw puzzle that teachers and school administrators navigate each year when creating classes. Is this behavior on the part of parents and school administrators justified? — Name Withheld

From the Ethicist:

Morally speaking, parents are not just permitted but required to have special concern for their own children. Yet that partiality is limited by general moral duties. I can give toys to my children without feeling guilty about not giving them to other children. But I can’t steal toys from my neighbor’s children to do so. Rightful partiality does not justify depriving other children of their proper share.

Accordingly, we have an obligation to respect reasonable rules of fairness in the institutions we engage with. If a school would normally allocate students to teachers in a roughly fair manner — considering all children’s interests equally — then pressuring the school to violate these procedures for your child’s advantage crosses an ethical line.

As you note, though, the school faces a dilemma. Affluent parents provide valuable resources that benefit all students, including those from lower-income families. Losing these affluent families would deprive the school of more than just money; it could diminish overall opportunities for every enrolled student. Administrators might justify minor rule-bending to retain such families, and thus maintain diversity and resources for everyone. (Less-affluent families, while part of that diversity, typically lack the leverage to threaten withdrawal.)