Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
if you dont like cons dont send your kid to public school.
fyi 40% of public school teachers send their children to private school.
voucher sooner the better.
Where does that stat come from? In my 12 years of public school education, I never once had a teacher whose child went to private school. Private colleges on scholarship, sure, but not private k-12.
I went to public school and my opportunities were far greater there than at the dinky private schools nearby. I never saw the point of going to a teeny private school for me. Sure, you might get more attention and if your child needs a lot of extra attention, that's helpful, but you get nowhere near the same academic opportunities at many. For instance, my local private schools (all religious) only went to Spanish and French 4 or Latin 2. My high school went to Spanish 7 (which I took... the year after they had a Spanish 8 and 9 program integrated with ESL) and French 7, and German and Latin 5. For myself and hundreds of other students, we would have been extremely disadvantaged at the private schools JUST on that one front. Not to mention lack of extracurriculars (marching band was very important to me socially), lower standards in math and science for high achievers, and oppressive religious backgrounds.
Now obviously not all private schools are horrible and not all public schools are great. When I was about 12, I begged my parents to let me go to Phillips Andover Academy for boarding school and made it as far as the entrance exam before they decided that it cost more per year than my flagship state university. :P But it all ended up alright.
I have noticed that the parents who complained about my high school at PTA meetings were the parents of chronically underachieving, lazy, partying students which was always amusing to my parents and I.
Um, because they are provided by the government. And, additionally, because they were put in place by the state to produce obedient slaves, err, I mean citizens. The Complete Liberty podcast ran a few very good episodes on this recently...
No, but I've attended several public schools in the Soviet Union in the 1980s and in New Jersey in 1990s, graduating high school in 2000. Noticing the similarities between the two gave me a lot to think about over the years...
Comparing Soviet (or Chinese, or Indian) school system to the North American one is like comparing apples and oranges. The Soviet schools cared of the end result, the American schools (both public and private) pay much more atention to the the process itself.
Both types of schools here pay attention to feelings, emotions, comfort level, safety - all those intangibles that didn't matter in Soviet schools. I graduated from a Soviet high school and my first Soviet university in the 80s. For all those years, the most important thing was the grades. That was a completely different mindset than in any, public or private, school here.
Granted, there was no such thing as Child Protection Services in those times, so parents did what they saw fit to make the child study. But CPS is also a relatively recent phenomenon in America, too. (Looking at what's going on over there, the first signs of a child protection agency are sprouting).
Where does that stat come from? In my 12 years of public school education, I never once had a teacher whose child went to private school. Private colleges on scholarship, sure, but not private k-12.
I went to public school and my opportunities were far greater there than at the dinky private schools nearby. I never saw the point of going to a teeny private school for me. Sure, you might get more attention and if your child needs a lot of extra attention, that's helpful, but you get nowhere near the same academic opportunities at many. For instance, my local private schools (all religious) only went to Spanish and French 4 or Latin 2. My high school went to Spanish 7 (which I took... the year after they had a Spanish 8 and 9 program integrated with ESL) and French 7, and German and Latin 5. For myself and hundreds of other students, we would have been extremely disadvantaged at the private schools JUST on that one front. Not to mention lack of extracurriculars (marching band was very important to me socially), lower standards in math and science for high achievers, and oppressive religious backgrounds.
Now obviously not all private schools are horrible and not all public schools are great. When I was about 12, I begged my parents to let me go to Phillips Andover Academy for boarding school and made it as far as the entrance exam before they decided that it cost more per year than my flagship state university. :P But it all ended up alright.
I have noticed that the parents who complained about my high school at PTA meetings were the parents of chronically underachieving, lazy, partying students which was always amusing to my parents and I.
I find a lot of falacies in your post, but one that stands out is the language that was available to you through public school. How, when there are 4 years in high school, do you get to French or Spanich 8 and 9? That would indicate 9 years of Spanish, which would mean you started language in fourth grade and received credit for a year of language in each grade. Not likely. You may have started in fourth grade, but couldn't have possibly have received a full year credit each of those years.
What school did you go to? Just curious.
Another thing is extra-curricular activities. In many private schools there are a number of extra-curricular activities. Most private highschools have a number of sports offered, and play against other private schools and some public schools. They offer band and chorus. They offer art and most everything else public schools offer.
It's too bad you and your parents were so amused by some else's shortcomings. That's pretty arrogant, don't you think? Couldn't be that you were very well liked in school.
Where does that stat come from? In my 12 years of public school education, I never once had a teacher whose child went to private school. Private colleges on scholarship, sure, but not private k-12.
I went to public school and my opportunities were far greater there than at the dinky private schools nearby. I never saw the point of going to a teeny private school for me. Sure, you might get more attention and if your child needs a lot of extra attention, that's helpful, but you get nowhere near the same academic opportunities at many. For instance, my local private schools (all religious) only went to Spanish and French 4 or Latin 2. My high school went to Spanish 7 (which I took... the year after they had a Spanish 8 and 9 program integrated with ESL) and French 7, and German and Latin 5. For myself and hundreds of other students, we would have been extremely disadvantaged at the private schools JUST on that one front. Not to mention lack of extracurriculars (marching band was very important to me socially), lower standards in math and science for high achievers, and oppressive religious backgrounds.
Now obviously not all private schools are horrible and not all public schools are great. When I was about 12, I begged my parents to let me go to Phillips Andover Academy for boarding school and made it as far as the entrance exam before they decided that it cost more per year than my flagship state university. :P But it all ended up alright.
I have noticed that the parents who complained about my high school at PTA meetings were the parents of chronically underachieving, lazy, partying students which was always amusing to my parents and I.
by the way the next time my friend tells me about waking up screaming re the 12 kids that gang raped her in the stairwell which is why she moved (unreported) 2 of them her own students, i will remind her that she is overreacting and the high quality of our public school system. thanks for sharing and setting the record straight.
Last edited by Huckleberry3911948; 02-22-2009 at 08:57 AM..
by the way the next time my friend tells me about waking up screaming re the 12 kids that gang raped her in the stairwell which is why she moved (unreported) 2 of them her own students, i will remind her that she is overreacting and the high quality of our public school system. thanks for sharing and setting the record straight.
This is why people here said - it depends on where you live. What you describe I see as an inner city or otherwise city behavior. The rest of one-storey America is quite different.
Anecdotally, I know that many of the moms in my (suburban Connecticut) homeschool group are actually certified teachers who used to teach in public schools. I noticed this in our groups (one secular group, one Christian group) in suburban Florida as well. I don't have a published study on this to post, I'm just sharing my own experience. I don't know enough people who send their kids to private school to make a personal statement either way, but I do find it eye-opening that so many teachers (some of whom worked at very high-ranking public schools) don't send their children. I guess they have an insider view.
I think it depends on what you want out of it.
A great education can be had at either school - the greatest determinant is parental involvement, not whether it's a private or public school.
I think if the public schools nearby were really bad or there were problems with violence...only then would I consider private school.
Luckily, I live in one of the best and highest achieving school districts in the country. My kids are going to public school.
I do know a lot of people who went to private schools and then on to excellent private universities, private grad schools/med schools/etc. I personally went public the whole way...they (and their parents) have a lot more loans/debt, and the end result? They don't make a cent more than I do (in fact, most make a lot less).
So it's really about what you're trying to achieve. I think some kids might do better in private school b/c of their personalities or something...but I don't think there's some kind of automatic advantage or anything.
When my DH and I shopped for a house the first thing I did was figure out which schools had the best schools and which of those towns we could afford.
I don't know how much private schools cost, but with two kids, I cannot see paying to send them to school K-12, at what I imagine must be at least $1500 per year, so for two kids $3,000 per year, or $40,000 + over the course of their education. Then what about college? I have seen kids go straight through to twelfth grade in private school and then their parents tell them to get loans for college This I just don't understand.
Anyhow, I love the school system where we live.
My DH has mentioned a private religious based school, one of the few in our area, (though it would be a 35 minute drive each way) and I have had to say to him, "What? Did you forget why we moved here? No."
I went to public school in a rather crappy school system. My cousin when to private. I can't say I ever felt there was a difference in our education.
Tuition at private schools around here are well in excess of $1500 per year, per child.
Any ideas? I attended private school many moons ago and I would love to send my child but I also know schools have changed a lot. Any suggestions on pros and cons?
Depends on the area. I never thought the idea of private school for my daughter would cross my mind before she reached middle school, but here we are, in an area that was redistricted two years ago, and she is in an elementary school that has gone down hill, way down hill, in the last two years! Luckily, we are moving so it is not as much of a concern but schools change with growth so it's hard to pick schools in certain districts because you never know what may happen.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
