MS: What about the public schools? Are they so bad?
MHS: The reason why I haven’t brought up public schools is because my film focuses on nursery school… And there is no public school for nursery school. There are certain, not many, pre-kindergarten programs, but that’s for four and five-year-old’s level. But there’s nothing for two, three and early four-year-olds.

MS: So we’re talking $15,000 to $20,000 a year, for day care essentially?
MSH: If parents really do the research, there’re different schools for different price tags. But it’s certainly fair to say that not just for the top tier schools, but also some of the more standard schools, $30,000 for two years is the price families are going to pay... Sometimes more. Sometimes less. But there is this debate about whether this is just day care or is it education. I will say that I do think that early childhood education has real benefits for children. Does that mean that your child is not going to get into the Ivy League of their choice or of their parent’s choice if they go to one pre-school over another? Probably not.  All it means that if you’re in a very good pre-school environment then you probably are doing activities for socialization and very limited analytical activities at a better level.

MS: What about after pre-school?
MSH: [There is] the notion that if you get into the right nursery school, that school will put you on the right track to the proper ongoing school. And without a private nursery school whose admissions director has the right relationships with those ongoing schools… then you’re going have a more difficult time. That’s the notion… there is some truth to that. Is it an all or nothing proposition? No.

MS: Do you have kids?
MSH: I don’t. That’s the big irony.

MS: What would you do if you had a kid at this point?
MSH: That’s a fair question. I love living in New York City and I’m not ready to move out and this would be a struggle that I’d have to face with all the other parents, except hopefully I’d be armed with a bit of good knowledge. But certainly I know me and I’d want to make sure that my child was at school where I thought they’d get a good education.

 

Nursery University screens in New York beginning April 24, for tickets and theater information, check out the film's official site. 

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