Private school vs Good Public Schools (Dallas: home, school districts, colleges)

[justsomeguy]

What makes more sense - to shell out an additional $150,000 on home price to be in a good public school system or to save money on the home price but send kid to private school if public schools aren't good? It seems if you pay more for the home you should eventually get it back when you sell the home vs shelling out money for private school. But private school may be a better experience/education?

[numbersguy100]

Use the search function. This has ben debated here before.

Short answer? Public school will be cheaper in 999 out of 1000 reasonable scenarios for an upper middle class family that can actually afford private school. FWIW, most private school families already live in the expensive parts of Park Cities, Dallas, or the close in suburbs so we all have choices and have made the decision that we prefer private schooling.

[tcualum]

I've done all of the scenarios the OP listed and, honestly, it depends on the kids and depends on the school. Both of my kids started out attending private schools. My older son though decided to switch to public school for 7th grade, which made me nervous. It turns out I was wise to listen to him because he's much happier there and it's a better fit for him for a variety of reasons. My younger son loves private school and will probably stay private until he graduates from high school.

Just like all public schools aren't created equal, not all private schools are either. What money gives you is the freedom of choice. We could afford to move to keep our older son in the public school system he liked and we are able to afford our pick of private schools for our younger son for high school, assuming he gets in. The nice thing about DFW is that there's a wide variety of public, charter, and private school options, depending on where you're able to live and what you can afford. There's no one size fits all option.

[20Hope20]

If public schools are good than its better to put money in house, it’s an investment which appreciates and you build home acuity, you gain big time when you sell.

Private schools eat up a lot of money over 12 years and other than few expensive schools, most just can’t offer opportunities like good school districts can.

If public schools in your area aren’t good then private schools provide a good alternative.

You have to save money for college as well. If your kid can’t get enough financial aid or scholarship to colleges they want to attend than your savings can help them avoid debt or settling for colleges not helpful for their professional path. If they go to medical school, graduate degrees or other professional programs than debt can keep piling up.