does anyone else feel gyped from the NOLA primary and highschool public education they had to go through? (New Orleans: fit in, private schools)

[Nico82NO]

Im just wondering if anyone else who went through New Orleans public education feels like they were majorly set back in comparison to people from better educational areas in this country.

I feel personally handicapped with poor English language skills, math, and pretty much every general education subject when interacting with people from other places. I feel like my highschool education was overly simplified for the sake of well nothing. I remember visiting cousins in Massachusetts, both younger than me, and they were learning stuff way more advanced than me. In fact when they asked what kind of classes they had at my high school and when i told them they laughed and said they learned that in junior high and lower. My ex would tell me she lived in texas for a little while before moving back here and the school she went to wasn't the best there but the stuff they offered and that she got to take was way more advanced than anything here. I mean stuff like I would have expected in college or something but this was a Texas high school. She was amazed at the contrast in education quality even when she was in high school she noticed and admired it.

I feel totally ripped off growing up here. I almost feel like if I moved anywhere else Id be looked at as inferior or just dumb. Im way beyond high school now but the harm the pre-Katrina public school system caused me will last my entire lifetime.

were the private schools just as bad?

has anyone else had to deal with this or felt this way? Has anyone had to play catch up after moving somewhere?

I feel like the only place I could live is here just because i feel too dumb to live anywhere else.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

My children, middle-aged now, went to St. Martin's. They got a good education, I thought.

[Nico82NO]

isnt that a private school though?

Im talking pre katrina publics. I wish my family had the financial resources to send me to a private school but we didnt. I had to do public pre-k through 12th. even taking advantage of any advanced placement curricula i still feel handicapped.

Maybe the privates are substantially better.

[Prytania]

They are.

Private schools here are some of the best in the nation, public were some of the worst.

[Nico82NO]

well i guess that blows for me lol

too bad i cant go back in time and do high school all over again in another state. maybe I would have made something of myself by now

[2livecrews]

There is only one public school I would allow my child to go to in New Orleans and that is Ben Franklin. Other than that it is going to be Catholic or Private.

[Nico82NO]

but no one else has any public school experiences?

Am i the only one who went to one? I went to Franklin for 1 year my freshman year a million years ago and i hated it. It was a bunch of pretentious *******s and i didn't fit in at all. I was actually told by one of the teachers that I didn't belong there. I was glad to leave and had a much better social fitment in the next school but i still feel my education was very lacking.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

Originally Posted by Nico82NO

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were the private schools just as bad?

.......................

I was answering your question.

[doowapp]

I went to private school in New Orleans (don't want to name it, but one of the big ones: Jesuit, BMHS, Rummel) and was far behind public school kids from other states at the college I attended (don't want to name it for personal reasons, but it was out of state). My wife who was educated in public school in another southeastern state learned far more than me and had many more AP classes and options in high school than what I was offered in New Orleans. That's the one negative I have with New Orleans is the school system, private or public.

The good thing about the school I attended was that I did have a good Religious and English background. My math and science though ... they were WAY behind. That's not a good thing if you want to do Engineering, Finance, or any other degree program that requires mathematics at a top tier school.

[MegDrew]

I came here from NY in July and now teach English in New Orleans. I find the curriculum here to be challenging and not that much different from New York's. I am, however, aware of the pre-Katrina problems in the schools here, so I know your education might have suffered.

BUT don't be fooled into thinking that just because another state has higher standardized test scores or a more rigorous curriculum that the majority of people there are well-educated. A lot of kids take those opportunities for granted and throw them away. There are people of all levels of education everywhere and, based on your post, it doesn't seem the school system really harmed you. You don't write poorly and you're obviously introspective. In my opinion, anybody from elsewhere who claims you're uneducated simply because you come from New Orleans is worse off than you in the intelligence department!

Originally Posted by Nico82NO

Im just wondering if anyone else who went through New Orleans public education feels like they were majorly set back in comparison to people from better educational areas in this country.

I feel personally handicapped with poor English language skills, math, and pretty much every general education subject when interacting with people from other places. I feel like my highschool education was overly simplified for the sake of well nothing. I remember visiting cousins in Massachusetts, both younger than me, and they were learning stuff way more advanced than me. In fact when they asked what kind of classes they had at my high school and when i told them they laughed and said they learned that in junior high and lower. My ex would tell me she lived in texas for a little while before moving back here and the school she went to wasn't the best there but the stuff they offered and that she got to take was way more advanced than anything here. I mean stuff like I would have expected in college or something but this was a Texas high school. She was amazed at the contrast in education quality even when she was in high school she noticed and admired it.

I feel totally ripped off growing up here. I almost feel like if I moved anywhere else Id be looked at as inferior or just dumb. Im way beyond high school now but the harm the pre-Katrina public school system caused me will last my entire lifetime.

were the private schools just as bad?

has anyone else had to deal with this or felt this way? Has anyone had to play catch up after moving somewhere?

I feel like the only place I could live is here just because i feel too dumb to live anywhere else.