How a school does depends on a number of factors, including selectivity and the quality of teachers. If there’s nothing special about either of those, don’t be shocked when you get the same bell curve on the other end.

Parents choose private and charter schools for a variety of reasons even knowing this. Safety, religion, curriculum, access to certain courses, common views, volunteering, politics and drama (or lack of it), social class, summer classes, class size, sports and other proxies for parental input and control are all a consideration.

Some parents today just want more control and certainty over what’s going on in their kids education than previous generations.