--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Virtually all families in the middle of…" description: "\"Virtually all families in the middle of the earnings distribution aspire to send their children to a school of at least average quality. (We'd think il..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/323/bob-frank-37006_aspiration_virtually-all-families-in-the-middle-of_3197365.jpg" --- # Virtually all families in the middle of the earnings… ![“Virtually all families in the middle of the earnings distribution aspire to send their children to a school of at least average quality. (We'd think ill of any parent whose aspirations were lower.) The rub is that the best schools tend to be located in more expensive neighborhoods.” quote by Bob Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/323/bob-frank-37006_aspiration_virtually-all-families-in-the-middle-of_3197365.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/323/bob-frank-37006_aspiration_virtually-all-families-in-the-middle-of_3197365.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/323/bob-frank-37006_aspiration_virtually-all-families-in-the-middle-of_3197365.jpg) > “Virtually all families in the middle of the earnings distribution aspire to send their children to a school of at least average quality. (We'd think ill of any parent whose aspirations were lower.) The rub is that the best schools tend to be located in more expensive neighborhoods.” [Bob Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-frank/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Families aim for average‑quality schools, but top schools cluster in wealthier areas, creating inequity. **In simple terms:** Parents want decent schools; good schools are in rich neighborhoods. Key Takeaway Advocate policies that equalize school quality across districts. Themes education inequality housing aspirations Mood concerned hopeful Type analytical policy‑oriented When to use this quote - school choice - urban planning - housing policy - parental decision‑making Key Concepts social mobility resource allocation segregation Questions to Reflect On - How can we decouple school quality from neighborhood wealth? - What policies best promote equitable education? A Different Perspective Wealth‑based school placement can reinforce socioeconomic gaps. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aspiration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aspiration/) [Aspire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aspire/) [Average](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/average/) [Best school](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/best-school/) [Best Schools](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/best-schools-1310361/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Distribution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distribution/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Earning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earning/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Expensive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expensive/) [Expensive Neighborhoods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expensive-neighborhoods-2449951/) [Families Middle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/families-middle-5922526/) [Family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family/) [Ill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ill/) [Middle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle/) [Neighborhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neighborhood/) [Parent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parent/) [Parent Aspirations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parent-aspirations-5922525/) [Quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quality/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) [Schools Tend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/schools-tend-663561/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [I think it's evident that expensive neighborhoods in Seattle are surrounded by natural beauty. That elevates city life. So if we can make cities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stone-gossard/i-think-it-s-evident-that-expensive-neighborhoods-in-seattle-are/) [Stone Gossard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stone-gossard/) > [In many countries, schools are preparing students to participate in a democratic environment; yet schools themselves tend to be extremely autocratic, with all high-level…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adora-svitak/in-many-countries-schools-are-preparing-students-to-participate-in-a/) [Adora Svitak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adora-svitak/) > [Independence of mind, enthusiasm, dedication to the field, and willingness to challenge and question and to explore new direction. There are plenty of people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/independence-of-mind-enthusiasm-dedication-to-the-field-and/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Well, we have to provide the world's best schools. We certainly don't have them, but that's our objective.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bloomberg/well-we-have-to-provide-the-world-s-best-schools-we-certainly-don-t/) [Michael Bloomberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bloomberg/) > [I am not the type who'd enter the best schools just to prove myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liza-soberano/i-am-not-the-type-who-d-enter-the-best-schools-just-to-prove-myself/) [Liza Soberano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liza-soberano/) > [If you look at the best schools that gets the best results, they teach a broad curriculum but they are also rigorous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-hancock/if-you-look-at-the-best-schools-that-gets-the-best-results-they-teach/) [Matt Hancock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-hancock/) > [“Our lives are the best school in the universe because we all have to face happiness and madness”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalin-shu/our-lives-are-the-best-school-in-the-universe-because-we-all-have-to/) [dalin shu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalin-shu/) > [White folks are the luckiest people: Finally a black president and he's a behaved one. Went to the best schools, best colleges, never raises…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-gregory/white-folks-are-the-luckiest-people-finally-a-black-president-and-he/) [Dick Gregory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-gregory/) > [Democracy is the best school to learn soft power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-nye/democracy-is-the-best-school-to-learn-soft-power/) [Joseph Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-nye/) > [I was very young, maybe five. The opera was very... I was attracted to opera to the point that I think it's the reason…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lalo-schifrin/i-was-very-young-maybe-five-the-opera-was-very-i-was-attracted-to/) [Lalo Schifrin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lalo-schifrin/) > [Life is the best school. God is the best teacher. Problem is the best assignment. Failure is the best revision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-the-best-school-god-is-the-best-teacher-problem-is-the-best/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Experience is the best school, Failures, Mistakes, Embarrassments, and Heartaches are teaching there, Offering only one lesson called Life, That you could only finish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-m-lubao/experience-is-the-best-school-failures-mistakes-embarrassments-and/) [Nelson M. Lubao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-m-lubao/) > [The subject I was best at in school was biology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/astrid-berges-frisbey/the-subject-i-was-best-at-in-school-was-biology/) [Astrid Berges-Frisbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/astrid-berges-frisbey/) > [Kids should go to college, but they should go to the best school they can afford to get through with minimal or no debt.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-cuban/kids-should-go-to-college-but-they-should-go-to-the-best-school-they/) [Mark Cuban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-cuban/) > [Bombay is far ahead of Bengal in the matter of female education. I have visited some of the best schools in Bengal and Bombay,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keshub-chandra-sen/bombay-is-far-ahead-of-bengal-in-the-matter-of-female-education-i/) [Keshub Chandra Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keshub-chandra-sen/) ## More by Bob Frank > [Prescriptive regulations, such as telling electric utilities what kinds of coal to burn or what kinds of scrubbers to install on their smokestacks, were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-frank/prescriptive-regulations-such-as-telling-electric-utilities-what/) [Bob Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-frank/) > [A flat tax is roughly the same as a sales tax.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-frank/a-flat-tax-is-roughly-the-same-as-a-sales-tax/) [Bob Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-frank/) > [Commercial roadways in communities that lack zoning laws, for example, are often an aesthetic nightmare not because of insufficient competition, and not because merchants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-frank/commercial-roadways-in-communities-that-lack-zoning-laws-for-example/) [Bob Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-frank/) > [In almost every instance, air and water quality goals were met more cheaply and quickly when we taxed pollution than when we tried to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-frank/in-almost-every-instance-air-and-water-quality-goals-were-met-more/) [Bob Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-frank/) > [As the great naturalist Charles Darwin saw clearly, individual and collective interests often coincide, as in the invisible hand narrative. 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But the near-rich, whose social circles intersect those of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-frank/there-s-no-indication-that-middle-income-families-feel-resentful/) [Bob Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-frank/) > [Every group spends more when its income grows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-frank/every-group-spends-more-when-its-income-grows/) [Bob Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-frank/) > [The upshot is that to send its children to a school of even average quality, a family must outbid half of other similar families…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-frank/the-upshot-is-that-to-send-its-children-to-a-school-of-even-average/) [Bob Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-frank/) [Explore all 12 Bob Frank quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-frank/) ## More Aspiration quotes > [To refer even in passing to unpublished or struggling authors and their problems is to put oneself at some risk, so I will say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingsley-amis/to-refer-even-in-passing-to-unpublished-or-struggling-authors-and/) [Kingsley Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingsley-amis/) > [The emerging church movement has come to believe that the ultimate context of the spiritual aspirations of a follower of Jesus Christ is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samir-selmanovic/the-emerging-church-movement-has-come-to-believe-that-the-ultimate/) [Samir Selmanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samir-selmanovic/) > [“No one has any right to tell you that the way you perceive yourself is wrong. 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