This seems like such a weird stance since pretty much all formal education isn't free. Even without SAT prep rich families can still afford better schools, private tutors, set up apprenticeships.
It's a weird world where people are mad that those with means are using them to educate themselves and their children.
As an adult I choose to pay for lots of different forms of education that gives me "advantage" -- bleh -- over my friends, peers, coworkers, etc.. Why should I feel guilty that I have the means to buy culinary textbooks so I can bake better?
I'm not angry at the people who want to help their kids, but at the system that we're making. Our "meritocracy" has become a caste system in which a small group of people are doing very well and everyone else is scrambling to make it. It's a big social problem. Look at how suicide rates in middle America has skyrocketed, look at how much more divisive our politics have become.
I have no idea what the solution is, and can't say for sure where we should place the blame, but I have an innate distaste for the passing along of inherited advantages.
I think you're reading the position a little wrongly.
People are upset when being rich means you can be prepared for a test and so get a higher score than someone who is equally able.
Supposedly, in a properly operating university, once at the uni the background of the students shouldn't matter [as much], those who came from schools where they couldn't afford equipment should now have equal access as those who could buy anything they needed and more. Simply having access to facilities makes a massive difference to what can be achieved and that feeds in to intellect growth.
I think the difference is that, better schools and private tutors, are at least in theory, teaching useful skills and ultimately creating a better person at the end. Being good at the SATs doesn't have the same excuse, so its much more obvious when you're basically just paying to get a better score.
Look, I don't disagree with you -- other than the score SAT prep is fantastically bad education investment. But I think this is a problem with the testing more than some larger class issue. We've rewarded learning a bunch of useless facts and test taking strategies. You could probably switch out the SAT for an entire test of movie trivia and you'd probably get the same distribution of performance since ACT/SAT just reward the people who study for it the most. You can't accidentally prepare for these tests by other schooling that's not geared for it.
It's a weird world where people are mad that those with means are using them to educate themselves and their children.
As an adult I choose to pay for lots of different forms of education that gives me "advantage" -- bleh -- over my friends, peers, coworkers, etc.. Why should I feel guilty that I have the means to buy culinary textbooks so I can bake better?