If someone works for a living and can’t get their child into a school for that reason, I’d think they’d be thrilled. Why would they want their child to be the second class citizen of a backwards school? The problem in Lakewood seems to be that people who have their heads on straight buy into the backwards’ definition of elite. The schools that are “willing” to accept the elite children are the elite schools. Period.
In this context elite means the children of the more responsible people with the better hashkafos. Probably brighter genes too, on average. Not saying that there aren’t good kids who grow up in a kollel home, just on average. People should not let the backwards people determine eliteness.