If you had the means, would you send your children to private school?

I do and I do because my local public school system is awful having lost their high school accreditation twice.

Would avoid that option unless it were absolutely necessary for some reason. I’m a pretty firm believer in supporting the public schools – and did.

I did have the means, and I chose not to. My local system is darned good today, and it was darned good 20 years ago when the kids were of that age.

It’s pretty awful around here. Yes, I would, if possible.

The public schools my daughter attended had very good ratings in the CA. public school systems but had I been able to afford it, yes, i would have. I like the Waldorf educational system.

I wouldn’t. If I had the means, I would also have the means to closely monitor what my children are being taught/learning, and augment their education myself…

IMO. Private schools are divisive, and lead to poor assimilation into real society.

I would actually like private schools to be outlawed. Then , the country would be forced to improve public schools…

That being said, I want to clarify, that I totally understand why people do send their kids to private schools, and I don’t judge them for it. But it’s pretty unfair that the majority of kids have to attend an educationally substandard, and /or violent school, while the wealthy can simply ignore the problem by sending their kids elsewhere…

As long as society’s elite have private schools as an option, public schools will continue to spiral downward, and with them most of America’s children who will grow up to ultimately run this country further into the ground…

My understanding is that all things held equal, there is no evidence that private schools produce better educational outcomes than public schools. Anyway, if I had to suffer through the public school system then why shouldn’t my kids?

@cinnamonk Haha, that’s an odd perspective if you could give your kids a better educational experience.

Private schools often focus more on the arts and cater to the individual childs special blend of learning needs, nothing wrong with that, something the public system can’t afford and doesn’t want to do.They just want to herd the little lmbs into one big barn of rote protocol. My Waldorf friends have such an edge when it comes to culture, music, the arts. Much more diversity and well rounded education IMO.

@Coloma Not to mention smaller class sizes and better paid teachers.

Yes. I would also consider homeschooling.

I don’t have kids yet, but if I did I wouldn’t be sending them to private school. I think shielding children too much from the “real world” is harmful. I don’t want their only peers to be kids who come from wealthy families.

@Rarebear Yes indeed. I mean really, if one can afford it what would you rather drive an Audi or a Kia? haha

I’m from the UK where the school system is very good. My kids both went through it and on to university and I have no regrets. Had I the means I would not have done things differently. I agree with what @Mariah said above.

Yes, assuming a US location where the public alternative is awful and a better private school is available.

“wealthy”, “elite”, “sheltered” ?

You guys have a skewed perspective on private schools.

Sure there are plenty whose names end in ‘academy’ or ‘preparatory school’ that cost as much as college and are predominantly white. I can’t afford to send my kid there either.

But for much less I sent my daughter to a small, arts-based preschool and a catholic, science-focused elementary and middle school. Both were very diverse with smaller class sizes. She’s taken Spanish since kindergarten and just got placed in all honors classes for high school.

And both schools are only s couple miles outside of Boston, on a city bus line, in a busy square. As someone who went to public school and spent a lot of time on the street, I can tell you they are not sheltered in the least.

What they are though is focused on their school work and in treating each other with respect. They spend their time singing at the old folks home across the street or raising money for women’s shelters when they’re not noshing pizza in the square with their friends.

Yes, many public school systems should be better. I know first hand as I teach at colleges that enroll underserved students from those very same bad public school systems — where I end up having to teach college freshman how to read a ruler or do basic math they should have learned much earlier; or where I correct papers that you’d think were written by a third grader.

So while I attend my town hall meetings and write my politicians about how crappy my public school system is, my daughter needs a good education while we’re all waiting around for the beaurocrats to get their heads out of their asses.

@cookieman Exactly, not all private schools are Ivy league prep schools for only the privileged elite. Silly stereotype.

@Coloma: Yup. Just gotta do some research is all.

If the public schools were good and safe I would send them to public school most likely. My first inclination if the public schools.

If the school environment was a bad fit for my particular child I would consider other options. Anything from another public school to private to possibly honeschooling, but I don’t know if I’m disciplined enough.

How much money I have wouldn’t necessarily influence it. Often, public schools have many more opportunities than private schools. More electives, sports, languages, vocational opportunities. It really depends on the child.

No. I live in a great district so it wouldn’t be necessary.

Yes. Co-ed through 6th grade, boys and girls separate schools through 9th grade, co-ed in high school.

Our kids did K-5 in public school. The elementary school in our area is pretty good (API ~900 for whites and Asians). The middle school had fewer electives than we wanted and student:teacher ratio was going to jump up, so we went private for middle school. Our girls are going to private high school to take advantage of more college prep courses and near-individualized college counseling. College counseling in public high school is pretty minimal. Hiring a college counselor costs about $10K per year – so might as well send them to private school.

It depends on the school I guess, but I have found that the public schools in my state are a lot better than the private schools. Whilst the private schools might get a slightly better education, I have had quite a few friends move from private schools to public schools and they have enjoyed it a LOT more. I have never been to a private school myself but in my opinion public schools are a lot better. I’d rather be happy at school than have a slightly better education but hate school.

Where I am there’s such a huge disparity between schools, even in the same district. Transfers aren’t allowed into most of the “good” schools, so if you decide to stick only with public schools, you’re left with what you’re able to afford in terms of housing/location. Good schools have high home prices.

I’m not sure which comes first, the well-off neighborhoods, or the good schools, but they definitely go hand in hand with few exceptions.

My parents got around that by sending us to “magnet” schools, which were intentionally placed in low income areas. Most of those aren’t an option anymore, and charter schools are the new rage.

My daughter starts kindergarten next year, and we looked at everything. We found a plan that works for now, but I’d absolutely put her in private school if that was the best option for her. Everyone has to decide what “best” means for them and me that would include diversity among peers to go right along with test scores and a wider education.

From talking to most parents in the same situation, most want to support public schools, and generally lean that way, but will do whatever they can to make sure their kids get a good education. I’d hate for my ability to buy a home in a neighborhood to be the only choice I get when it comes to my children’s education.

^^Sometimes the better house is a better financial choice than private school. If private school is $15k per child, then the high mortgage and higher taxes and public school combination sometimes cost the same or less than the less expensive house and private school.

The house has the potential to appreciate. Money spent on school you can’t get back so to speak. Well, I guess that has some exceptions. Plus, the better neighborhood might be better in other ways. Depends on the community and how you look at it.

The negative is if you choose a less expensive neighborhood and private schools you have an out if you financially hit hard times, and don’t risk your home as readily. You can switch to public schools and reduce your expenses in a flash. Having a higher mortgage and property tax is a harder fix in bad times.

Also, people who care about religious private have a different set of factors to consider obviously.

Personally, I attended public elementary school in WA, private middle school in Thailand, public high school in CA, and public-ish college (UC) in CA. I am doing well career-wise and finance-wise. I can see how one can argue that public schooling can yield good results, and private schooling not being necessary.

@RocketGuy Yeah, I guess you turned out okay.

by way of disclosure, Rocketguy and I went to high school together and he’s one of my backpacking partners

Yes, and I did with my oldest. Until we crashed. I sent her to a private Christian school until 6th grade.

It had not so much to do with the school system, which you know I support, but with one particular teacher she had. I could have just changed teachers, but I decided to pull her out completely.

@Rarebear went to all public schools and I think he makes more $ than me, so he turned out OK too.

If only he would cash in those Big Pharma bonus checks for all the vaccinations he had foisted onto unsuspecting parents, he would be driving a Range Rover too. But that is a different discussion.

LOL!! All he does is stand around in the ER all say and stick shit up people’s butts and giggle. He also says, “How the hell would I know???” a lot.

I don’t work in an ER and I take shit out of people’s butts not stick shit in.

But I’ll bet he giggles as he is taking shit out.

Actually, he doesn’t do it himself. He stands around and tells people what to do and watches. And giggles. And says, “WTF is that??? OMG!!!”

Hey mods, move this to social, okay?

[Mod says] Moved to social