ABSTRACT
Studies show that socially mobile parents, those with the resources, are willing to pay more for real estate that will enable access to a high-demand state-funded school-of-choice (Davidoff and Leigh, 2008; Dougherty et al., 2009; Fack and Grenet, 2010). So too, middle-class parents are willing to pay the direct fees to private schools, for perceivably ‘better’ or more ‘prestigious’ secondary schools. But, what happens when parents collectively agitate, lobby and pressure the government for a brand-new high school, one that is government-funded and theoretically freely accessible?
