Stories about the insanity of Manhattan parents who become distraught when there aren't enough $30,000 a year kindergarten spots for their offspring always make good headlines and copy. I certainly did my share of them over the years as a reporter covering New York City, and The New York Times weighed in on the trials of the under-5 set today.

But I wish just once a reporter would take the time to truly explain WHY public education options are shunned (class size? teacher quality? facilities? student population? after school programs?) and why-- and if -- the private schools provide a better education. What curriculum do they use? How qualified are their teachers and what kind of training did they receive? How are children evaluated? Are methods for teaching reading and math much different than what is offered in public school, and if so how?

There are some obvious advantages that private schools like the Mandell School, highlighted in the Times for its efforts to expand; have -- for example, a ratio of five teachers for each student, impossible to achieve in a public school

The story says the school focuses on "teaching to each student's strength and weaknesses,''' although there was no explanation of how that might work.

One reference point the Times managed to include -- the private school competitive chaos impacts only a very small percentage of parents in a city where some 1.1 million students attend pubilc school vs. 150,000 in private. But these stories would be so much better if tthey are more than a glance at the concerns of the wealthiest Manhattanites.

Why not use the opportunity to ask some probing questions about what makes private education so much different than public school? If there is such a rush to expand private school in the city, a question is begged -- what choices exist in the public school system that are driving this trend at a time when Wall Street revenues and bonuses are falling? Are all the reforms promised by New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein disappointing parents, or are many scared off by stories of how hard it was to get into a public pre-kindergarten this year?