I don’t have kids, but based on my own experiences with attending both private and public schools, I would never send a kid to public school. A hive of scum and villainy, and that’s just the people running them, some of the kids that go there are much worse.
I moved to a “better” public school district before the kids stared kindergarten. I’m glad I did.
I have one kid at each end of the SPED spectrum. I’m quite sure the talented one would have done well in any setting and our excellent public school met all her needs.
I’m also equally sure that the less capable kid would have eventually been ‘pushed out’ of a private school setting and that they would not have been able to meet his special needs. I was very pleasantly surprised at the quality of the evaluations evaluations and services for which he qualified, the attention to detail in his progress throughout the years, and quality and variety of the supplemental services the second child received in the public setting. I’m quite sure that would not be as successful as he is now without the help of our local public system.
The privates in my area are either religion based (not our cup of tea) or don’t have full K-12 programs. Some of the instructors there are not really well qualified. They also do not have programs for kids with the difficulties that mine has which weren’t fully revealed until he entered the school setting.
A couple of things you should look for:
- The amount of education the instructors (look for their educational degrees. If you notice that information missing, that should be a clue. Many of the instructors at our public school have Master’s and Doctorates. You will probably not see the education of instructors advertised on the private sites.
- The participation of the parents. This is really a key indicator. Kids with parents who are active in the schools do better, whether in a public or private setting.
Pleas ignore all my typos! I really can write complete sentences, evidence to the contrary! :mad:
This is the most shocking poll I’ve ever encountered on the Dope. It goes to show what a newb I still am in some ways. I would have expected everyone to prefer private school by a long shot.
Why did you expect that?
I think it’s important not to reproduce until one can afford to feed, clothe, educate, etc. the kids. So private school it is.
Quite the non sequitur.
Please explain.
I’m humbled to have evoked such a reaction. No really.
It’s surprising for me too, except that I was expecting a bigger difference between income groups. That’s it’s fairly even surprised me.
Our eldest son is in preschool run by the Bellevue School District, and we have every intention of sending him to the same regular school when the time comes.
For one thing I share some poster’s ideological views that good public schools for all are important for modern democracy. For another I also think that worse metrics for some schools are more likely caused by lousy socioeconomic conditions for certain students rather than a worse education provided by the school.
I’m in the fortunate position of not having to test my political convictions against my paternal instincts: the school district we live in is one of the best in the country. I don’t think there is a bad school to be found, and it isn’t clear private school would actually add any additional value.
I think the opening post’s scenario would be a no-brainer for us: we can easily afford private school but the public school is very likely going to provide a good education and value.
Whatever you decide, remember you’re not locked in forever.
My son started out at our parish (Catholic) school. After two years (K/1st) it was clear this school was not a good fit for him. I pulled him out and homeschooled him for 2nd and 3rd grade. He did well and got caught up. We had a lot of fun learning and getting together with other homeschoolers. After 3rd grade, he asked to go back to school, so we put in our local public school. He did very well and went there for 4th and 5th grade. Our local junior high had a bad reputation so we looked at charter schools. We found one that was 6th - 12th grade that looked good and he was excited about. He’s been there ever since. He’s currently in 11th grade.
You have choices. Pick the one that seems like the best fit for you kids, but don’t be afraid to change your mind if it turns out to not be a good fit at some point.
My wife and I have no children yet. When we do, we intend to send our kids to private school, even though it will probably mean a financial sacrifice for us.
I have taught in both private and public schools. I don’t hate the public schools. I think there are many smart and talented adults who put tremendous effort into teaching at public schools. The experience, however, is entirely inferior to the private school experience.
I don’t want my children to have a curriculum designed by politicians rather than teachers. I don’t want my children to spend thousands of hours drilling for standardized tests. I don’t want my children subjected to whatever ridiculous fads are popular in the educational community at any given time. I don’t want my children herded into and out of cafeterias, gyms, and performance halls in groups of 300 or more. I don’t want my children to endure endless lectures about drugs, bullying, sexual harassment and so forth just because of silly laws requiring such.
I’m actually faced with a very similar scenario as the OP right now. We’ve had many discussions in our household on what would be the best course of action.
The biggest driver for me is if I look back in 20 years and I ask myself if I did everything I possibly could to give my kids the best chance for success and the answer is no, then why is it no? Our K-8 school is in the top tier in the district. The HS on the other hand, is kind of middling. So my dilemma is choosing private school now, so that I can get into a feeder school for the private HS. The other wrinkle is that it just so happens that the best academic school in the area for both K-8 and HS are Catholic private schools. We are not a religious family.
The arguments I don’t understand or put weight behind is the idea that there is value in diversity greater than there is value in getting the most robust education possible. That somehow sheltering or segregating a child from an environment where a teacher cannot have a classroom full of children who are focused, want to be there, and highly value education and everyone is up to standards is a bad thing. We make choices to segregate children for all sorts of things. I choose a place to live so that kids have areas to play, it’s safe, etc. I want them to go to school in an environment where academics is the focus and everyone is a high achiever. I’d rather not the teacher be forced to spend limited time bringing low performing students up to speed.
So is the cost worth it, and is subjecting the kids to a religious environment a tacit endorsement of that faith? If it’s the best education available is it worth that sacrifice? I can’t tell. I’m also willing to move. There are nearby school districts that are better, arguably on par with the private schools available. The housing costs in those areas is about 50% more. On balance, it’s probably cheaper in the long run to move then send all the kids through private school, but then that’s disruptive in its own sense.
I’m probably going to make an appointment with the private school to inquire.
You should check on who goes to the Catholic school. If there are a lot of non-Catholics, it might be fine.
As for wanting to be there, how is the high school organized? If there are honors and AP classes, kids in them are with other kids who are driven also. I was in a very large high school, where classes were set up based on the ability of the students, and I never saw any slacking in my classes. But we had a critical mass of smart kids. If the feeder school is really good, I bet the high school has this also.
That’s exactly the dilemma we’re in; our kids aren’t quite school-age yet, but our local elementary sucks, the local middle school is just ok, and the local high school is decent. All of them have big problems with low income students who just aren’t interested in learning, and whose parents seem to place little value on education.
I went to public elementary and middle school, and to a private, academically oriented and selective high school- on academic scholarship, believe it or not. It was a total sea-change going from public middle school where about half of the students didn’t have any interest in being there, and who were so far out of reality in terms of the question 'What do you want to do when you grow up?" that it was sad. Those of us in the upper-level classes had at least vague notions of wanting to be a scientist, or a lawyer, or a politician or something. The bottom half didn’t have any conception beyond not failing and being held back, and the kids in the middle just sort of didn’t have a clue about whether or not they wanted to go to college, or get a job, or what.
Even in my first year in high school, there was a drastic difference in expectations. While I’d always grown up with a familial expectation of going to college, high school was the first time I had any sort of similar expectations placed on me by school administrators, other parents, and most importantly, other students. That was the culture- the students were considered smart and capable, and we were expected to go to college. Not community college or jr. college, but a real, 4 year college. And if you or your parents weren’t on board with that goal, then you were asked to leave. I think we had something like a 98% college acceptance rate my senior year- I think one or two guys just didn’t go right off, one or two did actually go to community college, and another 2-3 enlisted directly in the military.
That sort of expectation prods unmotivated kids to excel, and it’s supportive to kids with a fair amount of internal motivation to begin with. Personally, I liked it- I felt like I was part of the team, so to speak, not some kind of brainy outlier.
I want that for my kids- I want them to be in learning environments where there are expectations of excellence, and support for them to achieve that excellence. And most public schools don’t do that- they seem to spend a lot more time worrying about standardized tests and the bottom end of the student population than they do about the middle and upper halves.
Ideally, a good public school would be the best of both worlds- diversity and academic excellence, but most of us are stuck with the schools of our area, for better or for worse, and for a lot of people with the means, private schools are the best way to maximize their children’s opportunity in life.
As it happens there is a wonderful private high school close to here, and sure we’d send the girls there when the time comes, assuming we win the lottery.
For elementary schools, there is nothing fantastic that is close to our home - they’d have to take a bus across town - and the walk-to public school is of very high quality, so there’s no net benefit in that.
So it kinda depends when you ask me the question.
I’m quite against the idea of paying multiple-thousand dollar tuition for a kid to go to school for anything less than high-school, so for my kindergarten-age son private schools were right out. That left pubic and charter schools.
Unfortunately, the demographics of my neighborhood have changed since I’ve moved here years ago (Euclid, OH) and now, and the public schools here rank on avg from pretty bad to dismal. Fortunately for us, one of the best performing schools in the state (public, charter, or private) were two charter schools conveniently located close to my wife’s job. We applied and were accepted to both, and we picked the one that we thought would be the best for our son. The experience so far has been great and we haven’t regretted taking this path for a minute.
Due to the school’s high performance and reputation, most of the parents whose children attend are highly motivated and very involved in their children’s academics, which I have always believed is by far the #1 factor in how well a child will do in school.
This charter school goes from K-8. Unless we move or some other factor in the coming years require him to leave this school, the plan is for him to attend for the entire K-8 stretch, and then attend one of the handful of high-performing public High Schools in Cleveland such as the John Hay School of Science and Medicine. I would be open to private schools by time he reaches high school but there would have to be a really compelling reason for him to go to one.
Can’t answer the poll as presented.
My answer is that it depends.
My oldest kid went to a private college preparatory school through middle school and then transferred to a local public high school for the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. It was a good experience for him, and moving to the public high school was also a good experience for him.
My daughter currently attends a public elementary school, that is a dual language Spanish immersion magnet school. It is actually more difficult to get into some of the magnet schools in our area. Getting into the private school is relatively simple if you can pay the tuition. We think this is a great place for her currently.
To me it depends on the kid. Some kids need a bit more hands on attention. Private schools are bit better for this. As a parent, talking to public school teachers can be frustrating sometimes as they spend an inordinate amount of their day dealing with disciplinary problems and less on teaching than their counterparts in private schools. Also public teachers feel like they work for the district, not you or your kid. In a private school, you and your kid are more like the customers, and you do feel like you are heard more there.
Private schools have the advantage of not having to deal with kids that are consistent disciplinary problems, because they can kick them out of school.
I can see how both have their place.
This is a hard question to answer for children as a whole, because each child is individual and may thrive in a different environment than his or her siblings.
Until high school, I attended an experimental school run by the major university where my dad taught. I don’t know if anyone still does these experimental schools anymore, but they were wonderful playgrounds of the mind for curious, self-assured children such as myself who had been raised in an academic environment. In 9th grade I was sent to Catholic school, where I knew no one and was made to stuff all of my individuality into an ugly school uniform and do what I was told. I spent a very miserable year there. During the summer, I petitioned my parents to let me at least try a year in the public high school. It was the highest rated public school in our area, so they relented. I was much more comfortable there, and definitely happier. I undoubtedly got a better academic experience at the Catholic hs, but it wasn’t a dramatic difference, so I’ve never regretted making that move.
My oldest son was highly social and not terribly academically minded. Bright, yes. Motivated, not so much. We sent him to the best public schools in town and he did fine. He earned a full-ride college scholarship for sports at a mid-level academic college and loved it.
My younger son is a nerd like his dad and (somewhat) his mom. He needed something very different from our elder boy. We sent him to charter schools and put him in the AP programs. When the opened the city’s first STEM-oriented high school, we knew that was where he needed to be. He got a scholarship to an elite school and is now following in his dad’s footsteps as a research scientist.
Long story, I know, but it illustrates how 3 genetically-similar human beings can require very different learning environments. Ultimately, let the kid decide what works best for him or her.
Final caveat, though. When the time comes for my new grandson to go to school, he’ll be registering out of my address. His parents live in the Columbine HS district (yes, THAT Columbine).
Why should that make a difference?