Don't we all want to be "Oggsford" men?

As I was walking to school one day I saw this "for sale" sign and I noticed something really funny about it. On top of the sign it had "Sears School" tacked on the the top, and I found this particularly interesting because of how education effects property values. It was clearly the largest, most noticeable words and realtors are trying to advertise this house by providing information on the school district that the house belongs to. This shows how education is an identifier of class.

In "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby is constantly identified as "an Oxford man" (49) and that shows how people judge people based on the caliber of education they received. Being "an Oxford man" connotes a prestigious, rich, cultured character that coincides with the characters of the elites in the higher classes. Many believe that Gatsby belongs to the elite class simply on the knowledge that he is "an Oxford man"

Similar to the societal norms in "The Great Gatsby", our community works very similarly. We judge and classify people based on what type of education they get and where they received that education.  According to "The New York Times" class is made up of four elements: occupation, education, income, and wealth. This may explain why the school's name was tacked up above the real-estate sign. This respect for education can even be seen in our community where people are judged by the middle schools they attended. This sign represents people adding schooling in as a large deciding factor on real-estate decisions. Although the two really do not relate, the trend of people buying houses because of schools is really taking off because education is now more of an indicator of class and parents want to know their child is getting the best possible education, which will hopefully land them in the higher classes of the American class system.

Do you really think that schools are playing a bigger role in real-estate decisions?