Private vs Public schools?

[TravelingGal]

Any thoughts on this? As TGuy and I come to a fork in the road, we have to decide some things. One of them is private vs public schools.

I''m a believer in public schools. But the areas with good schools are still a bit out of our price range. So I wonder, would be better to move to a nice area that isn''t the BEST, and then put the kid in private school? And what makes a "good" school anyway? We could save a lot of money buying a home that''s a nice, but not the best, area.

What are your thoughts on public vs private? With California''s budget cuts, the gap may get wider and wider....

 

[Haven]

Oh, boy. I'm just going to say this:

About a year into working as a public school teacher, I decided that I do not want to send my future children to public school.

There. I admitted it.

I'm not sure about private school, either. It all depends on the school, and the child, of course.

The ideal? One of those outrageously old-moneyed educations, a la Amory Blaine in This Side of Paradise. You know--drag the kid all over Europe and South America. spend a lot of time with interesting, cultured, borderline crazy intellectuals and artistes. Put him on a sailboat every now and then. Surround him with good literature and intriguing artwork. Expose him to several languages. See what happens.

Helpful, right?

 

[Pandora II]

If I can afford it then Daisy will be going to a private school. The state schools in my area aren''t just bad - they''re frightening.

Unfortunately it''s very expensive here for private education - a top school will cost around £28k GBP a year per child!

However there are some all-girls schools here in London that are more affordable.

What I hope to do is send her to a state school for primary level, supplement with tutoring and then sit her for a scholarship to a really good private school from 11 years old.

It would be lovely if public schools were all good, but it''s not always the case and I care about my child more than about ''the positive effect for society of all social levels of children attending the same school'' and other such philosophies...

 

[sba771]

I am torn on the issue. I went to private school. My FI went to public. My school had pros and cons. He really does not want to send our kids to private school. We are currently looking at houses and have picked the neighborhoods based on the school districts ratings and report cards. I would love for our children to go to private school, but its a sore spot for the FI since he thought his education was fine. I am hoping to see how his cousin''s children do over the next few years and what the quality of their education (they will be attending the public schools) seems to be and based on the temperament of our future children we will revisit the issue. If we had tons of money it wouldn''t even be a discussion, but sadly a lot Jewish day schools can cost and upwards of 10K a year. (my high school was over 15k a year

)

 

[Steel]

Up to 3rd year (age 13/14) I was a solid C student and my teachers were happy I was working to the best of my abilities. When my parents split up I went to a private school and was an A student within a few months. On sitting my Leaving Certificate I got the second highest set of results in my year (All A1''s except for one stinky B1) and had my pick of college choices.

So my kids will go to private school.

Also I never saw drugs once in the private school where as it was a regular occurance to have deals going on in the public school yard, corridors and even in class.

 

[Burberrygirl]

Date: 8/5/2009 6:19:45 AM
Author: Steel
Up to 3rd year (age 13/14) I was a solid C student and my teachers were happy I was working to the best of my abilities. When my parents split up I went to a private school and was an A student within a few months. On sitting my Leaving Certificate I got the second highest set of results in my year (All A1's except for one stinky B1) and had my pick of college choices.


So my kids will go to private school.


Also I never saw drugs once in the private school where as it was a regular occurance to have deals going on in the public school yard, corridors and even in class.

I don't know where you went to public school, but I had the complete opposite experience. I just graduated from one of the top public school systems in MI. I live in a nice area and very few people send their kids to private schools here. I have friends from surrounding districts where the average income is less and they have all had wonderful hs experiences too. My district has great teachers, programs and after school groups. It all depends on the districts you're looking at. If you can afford to move into a district with a great school system, I'd opt for that. In my experience, kids at private schools are extremely sheltered. I have friends that went to private school and transfered to public school in 9th grade. They were for the most part naïve. My cousin was also a private school kid (for religious reasons). He experienced absolute culture shock when he entered a public college. BTW, the average test scores were amazing at my school, and drugs were not a common occurrence. If anything, my school had great programs put in place to educate teens about issues regarding drug use. Lets keep in mind that a child's education and therefore grades are heavily influenced by their parents (or important people in their life). A little encouragement can go along way. My parents were always supportive, as were my teachers. Steel, I'm not sure if you had the same experience. Maybe once you entered a private school, you receive much more encouragement and support from your teachers. i wouldn't be so quick to judge all public schools. TGal, there are many websites that give reviews about school systems, you should do some research on your surrounding areas.

 

[PinkTower]

T Gal,
I am biased, because I am a Montessori teacher, and was a Montessori parent long before I began to teach. Please look into Montessori Schools and see if they may be the right fit. Be careful, as the term "Montessori" is in the public domain, so the quality can vary greatly.
-Pink

 

[Lynnie]

I''m on the house hunt as well, and due to numerous reasons, we kinda have to stay within the city of Philadelphia. The public school system here sucks. So Catholic or private will have to be the way to go, for us. However, if we could afford to move to a suburb with a great school system, we''d do that. But we can''t... property taxes in those areas are highway robbery

It''d be so much easier if we had 100K or so lying around

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

If owning a home is important to you, then buy a home you can afford in a town with a good public school. Put the money that would go towards private school into the house. If you can't afford a house in that town, then go with a town that doesn't have the best schools and put the money you save into private school.

For the record-we lived in rentals my entire life because my mom wanted us to be in a good school system. Our public school was on-par with most private schools. DH and I now live in a town where our kids will go to public K-5 (good elementary schools in our dist) and will go to private for HS.

 

[Maria D]

Date: 8/5/2009 3:19:13 AM
Author: Haven

The ideal? One of those outrageously old-moneyed educations, a la Amory Blaine in This Side of Paradise. You know--drag the kid all over Europe and South America. spend a lot of time with interesting, cultured, borderline crazy intellectuals and artistes. Put him on a sailboat every now and then. Surround him with good literature and intriguing artwork. Expose him to several languages. See what happens.


Helpful, right?

Spoken like a true teacher of a "liberal arts" discipline!

I read that and thought, hmmm, this kid will end up like my students who love to discuss and deliberate about things like the theory of relativity but who can''t be bothered to learn how to do any of the math that''s needed to actually apply physics! In other words, as a math teacher I think your scenario is ideal for summer vacation Haven, but not for vigorous learning of math and science.

Tgal, as you can see, responses will be as individual as the private vs. public schools you are comparing. I have taught in both.

Here are some things to consider. In my state, private schools are not bound by the same rules as public. Teachers do not require certification. This is not necessarily a bad thing. The reason I taught at a private high school for years was because I didn''t yet have my cert. -- but I was just as qualified to teach math then as I am now. However, I would say there were teachers at that particular private school that had no business teaching the subjects they were teaching. Does this happen at public schools too? It''s not supposed to with NCLB but that doesn''t mean you won''t have teachers who are qualified "on paper" who aren''t very good teachers. Private schools are not required to have the special ed. services that public schools are. The conventional wisdom around here is that if your child has a learning disability, send them to public school. Private schools tend to have a wonderful sense of community where the parents feel as much a part of the school as the students do. This can be the case with a public school as well, but I don''t think it''s as prevalent.

My own daughter goes to the same public high school that I now teach at. I was teaching at a private high school when she started 9th grade and she had zero interest in attending that school -- which she could have attended for free as I was a faculty member! (little did she know I''d be following her to the public school a year later

) We were fine with her decision at the time and are thrilled with it now as she is thriving. But, she''s the kind of kid who would do well anywhere because she''s blessed with intelligence and (even more importantly) self-motivation. She''s happy because her school is a good fit for her -- it has diversity that is unmatched by any private school around here.

As for prevalence of drugs, I think that has more to do with community values, wealth, and lack of adult supervision than public vs. private. I went to a private somewhat elite college where I met prep school kids for the first time. They had been doing more (and expensive) drugs in their high school years than any of my public high school buddies. The same seems to be true today from what I can see. There are some well-moneyed towns around here that have excellent public and private high schools yet still have definite alcohol and drug problems.

Bottom line is it depends on the school AND the kid. So, I''m not much help either -- that intellectual-on-a-sailboat-education is starting to sound better adn better!

 

[Delster]

Burberrygirl, like me, Steel is Irish and since she says she did the Leaving Cert she must have gone to secondary school here in Ireland.

I went to a public school but it in no way resembled an American high school. Think uniforms, nuns, priests, compulsory religious education, a ban on leaving the school grounds between 9am and 4pm, no make-up (believe me, we broke that rule!), no jewellery, and no boys. It was a good education, I got excellent Leaving Cert results and got my second choice university place.

Honestly, though, I believe a private school education would have been better. In my degree studies and in my chosen career I have met a lot of people who went to private school and entirely aside from the stellar academic instruction they received there is an easy confidence that it instilled in them that I simply don''t have and never will have. Now in many cases that confidence could do with having been tempered by a strong dose of perspective, but overall I think they got a better education and a better formative environment than I did.

Here you can choose a public school that has a particular religious affiliation, or that is a particular gender only, so that''s a big difference with public school in the States. And private school in Ireland is outrageously exclusive - waiting lists for the top schools start from before birth (and that''s even if you have a parent that''s an alum), and you need to budget about €10k per term (three terms per year). At least university education is free (for the moment)...

 

[Clio]

So much depends on the location. We live in an area where the public schools are excellent, and the private schools cost upwards of 30K. Our kids are on public school and are thriving. I wouldn''t even consider private school.

On the other hand, the city where we used to live had not very good schools and high levels of drug use and teen pregnancy. There, not only was private school an option, but boarding school was on the table.

 

[D&T]

I think it also depends on the child as well. My boss has two children, one goes to public school the other to private school. He said this, his DD is scholastic, and a good student no matter where she went, she doesn't need much direction and have excelled where ever she would attend. His DS on the other hand, gets distracted very easily and would do better/ and has done better in a private school setting with stricter standards and policy. It depends on the schools as well. I like the public school system where I am from and will be sending my kids to one. I also had friends who went to a private school while I attended a public school, and again, I know that if she didn't attend a private school - I think she wouldn't have done as well and stayed on track just knowing her nature outside of school. Just my thoughts though.

 

[cellososweet]

If the public schools are bad, I think private from maybe middle school (high school definitely) should be an option. But, it always makes me choke to think of people who spend $30K a year for their 4 year old to go to private preschool. I would save the difference during elementary school to help with college. Otherwise, you run the risk of having this well-educated kid getting into an Ivy school with next to nothing saved to pay for it. And do you really need a good teacher to student ratio to learn basic math and reading? For what it''s worth, a lot of people who did quite well in life went to public school. What shaped them the most was what happened at home than what they learned at school. Just my opinion.

 

[Burberrygirl]

Date: 8/5/2009 9:05:57 AM
Author: Delster
Burberrygirl, like me, Steel is Irish and since she says she did the Leaving Cert she must have gone to secondary school here in Ireland.


I went to a public school but it in no way resembled an American high school. Think uniforms, nuns, priests, compulsory religious education, a ban on leaving the school grounds between 9am and 4pm, no make-up (believe me, we broke that rule!), no jewellery, and no boys. It was a good education, I got excellent Leaving Cert results and got my second choice university place.


Honestly, though, I believe a private school education would have been better. In my degree studies and in my chosen career I have met a lot of people who went to private school and entirely aside from the stellar academic instruction they received there is an easy confidence that it instilled in them that I simply don''t have and never will have. Now in many cases that confidence could do with having been tempered by a strong dose of perspective, but overall I think they got a better education and a better formative environment than I did.


Here you can choose a public school that has a particular religious affiliation, or that is a particular gender only, so that''s a big difference with public school in the States. And private school in Ireland is outrageously exclusive - waiting lists for the top schools start from before birth (and that''s even if you have a parent that''s an alum), and you need to budget about €10k per term (three terms per year). At least university education is free (for the moment)...

Delster, it''s interesting to hear about education outside of the U.S.

I thought TGal was from California, so I''m not sure how much Irish public or private schools are going to influence her choice (unless she plans on making a big move lol).

 

[janinegirly]

wow, you''re thinking ahead!

i''ve gone to private schools so part of me wants the same for my daughter, but the reality is they are extraordinarily expensive. I checked out a K-12 one in our neighborhood (for fun) and it was almost 30K a year, and 15K for pre-kindergarten!

we also bought in a very expensive town, high taxes, small house at high prices, but reknowned for great school system. To me this absolutely trumps bigger/better house in less desireable town. So my view now is public school and if for some reason she stops thriving or it turns out to not be as nurturing an environment as everyone claims, we''d look to private school. But I''m hoping that''s unlikely.

 

[sba771]

Date: 8/5/2009 7:58:23 AM
Author: Lynnie
I''m on the house hunt as well, and due to numerous reasons, we kinda have to stay within the city of Philadelphia. The public school system here sucks. So Catholic or private will have to be the way to go, for us. However, if we could afford to move to a suburb with a great school system, we''d do that. But we can''t... property taxes in those areas are highway robbery

It''d be so much easier if we had 100K or so lying around

I hear you! My mom and neighbor work for the Philly school district. I grew up in the suburbs in the Lower Merion school district which an OK one but it has gone majorly downhill since my mother went to school there- hence the private school education for me for 13 years.

 

[Lynnie]

Date: 8/5/2009 9:41:20 AM
Author: sba771

Date: 8/5/2009 7:58:23 AM
Author: Lynnie
I''m on the house hunt as well, and due to numerous reasons, we kinda have to stay within the city of Philadelphia. The public school system here sucks. So Catholic or private will have to be the way to go, for us. However, if we could afford to move to a suburb with a great school system, we''d do that. But we can''t... property taxes in those areas are highway robbery

It''d be so much easier if we had 100K or so lying around

I hear you! My mom and neighbor work for the Philly school district. I grew up in the suburbs in the Lower Merion school district which an OK one but it has gone majorly downhill since my mother went to school there- hence the private school education for me for 13 years.

Ha! Yeah, I don''t think you can get much worse than Philly public schools. My older brother is 8 years older than me... my parents sent him to public school. He had a ton of problems, got mugged, you name it. He ended up dropping out of high school. So my younger brother & I were sent to Catholic school. My older brother is now divorced & unemployed. My younger brother & I went to college, are in stable relationships, and have good careers. Wonder if it''s linked to our different educations?

** sorry for the threadjack, TGal **

 

[MustangGal]

I''ve been dealing with the school issue too, since we were looking into buying a bigger house. Turns out we''re in one of the best school districts in Phoenix, so we''re going to stay here for a while. DH and I both went to public school. I graduated 3rd in my class from high school, and had a full ride scholarship to college. We don''t plan to use private schools if it can be avoided. My cousin did his 9th grade year at a church based private school here in Phoenix 2 years ago. They moved to Colorado the next year and he had to repeat the 9th grade he was so far behind. What''s crazy is not that they came back to Phoenix, his mom is putting him back into that same school

.

Tgal, buying a house in a good school area would be the better investment in my eyes, but you have to do what is right for your and Amelia.

 

[Elmorton]

This is something DH and I talk about a lot. For his job, he talks to high school students in the area on a daily basis, and I work with fresh out of (and sometimes current) high school students, so we get an interesting perspective about the differences between the public and private schools in our area. My general assessment is that the students from the public schools in the pricey areas are often my best students, but my guess is that it has more to do with the education of their parents than anything else. Cons: students from the larger public schools have tend to have problems with the basics/are used to being ignored, and students from the private/smaller publics are so used to hand-holding that they cannot do basics without supervision.

I've also found that higher achieving students seem to be happy with their education no matter where they went. The high school in my district is not in a good area of town, so I've always wondered about it - but one of my former students, a straight A, really interesting, artistic person, said that she loved it because her accelerated classes were smaller than at the other schools in the city and she appreciated the diversity in her classmates and the faculty. She felt like her school had a better sense of community than the others. That changed my perspective quite a bit - I really think it has to do with the individual student in terms of where they'll thrive.

Re: drugs - from what my students have told me, drugs are going to be prevalent everywhere, but what you find is that the price of the drugs match the income of the students attending the school.

Re: Montessori - I was a Montessori kid. I looooved it, and while it's bizarre, I still have a lot of memories from pre-school/kindergarten. My parents switched me to public for 1st grade because I grew up in a small town with a very good school district (it just didn't have all-day kindergarten) and it took me a few years to settle in to the public school way of doing things. Most of my memories from 1st-4th grade aren't very positive. Still, if we can swing it, I would choose a Montessori education for my kid in a heartbeat.

 

[waxing lyrical]

If we end up back in CA, homeschool.

 

[swimmer]

The situation depends on the family and on the kid.

Of course I''m biased towards public schools, I teach in one of the top 20 schools in the state ranked highest in 8/10 subjects and grade areas. But having also taught in a school that lost its accreditation for low graduation rates and just a scary environment, I have to say that those two extremes are only 8 miles apart. Then again, when we kick kids out of our public school for possession or violence, guess where they go?

Private schools vary so much, in my state a 10k a year Catholic education is probably not worth it unless you live in a seriously violent hood. Those schools have teachers who are paid less than half the salary of the teachers in the public school down the street and have much larger class sizes. Then there are the fancy boarding schools up here in New England that offer an amazing education and amazing access to the very best drugs. Those are great schools, and at 50k a year, they should be.

The National Center for Educational Statistics provides this overview of statistical differences b/w pub and private: link

But in all of this remember that an amazing education can be procured in a terrible school with just 5-7 great teachers. Also, a student can choose to not avail themselves of the opportunities in a school where 99.9% of the kids go to college. You are having a kid and not a statistic, so as I started out his post, it depends.

But as a public school teacher and part time admin, I will send my (future) kids to public school. I believe in the hope and promise of public education.

 

[Camille]

Date: 8/5/2009 1:37:44 AM
Author:TravelingGal
Any thoughts on this? As TGuy and I come to a fork in the road, we have to decide some things. One of them is private vs public schools.

I''m a believer in public schools. But the areas with good schools are still a bit out of our price range. So I wonder, would be better to move to a nice area that isn''t the BEST, and then put the kid in private school? And what makes a ''good'' school anyway? We could save a lot of money buying a home that''s a nice, but not the best, area.

What are your thoughts on public vs private? With California''s budget cuts, the gap may get wider and wider....

Hi TravelG, sometimes you don''t have to move. Children can transfer if you/DH work in another district/city it takes some patience/paperwork but is done all of the time.
Magnet Schools [if they appeal to you] welcome most kids and are high in Tech. One thing, they mix grade levels in one classroom and have year round schedule, no neighborhood/government boundaries=0 paperwork.

Charter school are also good imho, your child could go in/out your district as long as there is space avail, VERY popular because parents have a ''voice'' in their kids education

where I live they run a lottery to determine who attends.
8 years ago public would have been a good option for my kids, now: big NAY, I know 5 schools {CA} about to clo$e

we are talking great schools here, sad.
I had private schooling, DH didn''t. talking to parents of potential school in mind or request rating from several districts may help to make a wise dessision.
Private schools won''t tell you this but they DO IT: If you can prove you will strugle with tuition, you can apply for discount even scholarship, [many parents bring $$ yearly for this to happen] the child must keep B of better or mega athletic for older ones.
The corny part: Education is the best maybe only true gift your kid will ever have from you, take your time picking one for your kids.

 

[Aloros]

I''d get the house in the area with the better schools. As someone else said, it''s a better investment. Check the school''s ratings, and the reviews other parents give it. Visit the school and get a feel for it. I never went to private school, and did just fine. My parents made sure we went to the best public schools available.

I think there are some great public schools out there (even in CA).

 

[AmberWaves]

TGal, I went to public from K-12, DH went to private k.-12 (his highschool years in the top rated Boy''s school in California). He now teaches in the same private school he attended from K-8. As a public school student, I was unaware of the community aspect of private schools (at least the smaller ones), and the more I was immersed in his world the better I thought of having our kids attend. Unfortunately, we''re also totally unable to swing it financially, as his school is the second most expensive in the district of private schools. This is why we moved to an area that has an excellent charter school assigned to our location. Our child will go there from k-5th, after which we''ll need to make a decision, as the public middle is literally a block behind us and gets pretty good marks. High school is different, we will put our child in a private high school, which gives us a few years to save up.

Charter schools in So. Cal are doing very well, it''s a midpoint between public and private, and as Camille mentioned, you get more of a say in the education. Because of that, and the popularity, a lot of charter schools here have waiting lists and require a points system. Basically, you have to get in on the ground floor. There is really no public school until 3rd grade when you decide to put Amelia into a charter- too many people waiting for those spots who have been on the list. This is one thing we were warned about by parents who couldn''t afford to keep their kids in private school, and were looking for other options. It''s a real first come first served thing.

Another thing: Catholic school admissions are waaaay down in Southern California. We know of three parishes that have closed in the last year. People are flocking to Charters to get personalized attention minus the pricey fee (but they do ask for a lot of parent time spent in the schools). I am not too clear on South Bay private schools, but I know beach cities (Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach) have some of the best school districts, both private AND public.

Good luck!

 

[Steel]

Date: 8/5/2009 9:27:52 AM
Author: Burberrygirl

Date: 8/5/2009 9:05:57 AM
Author: Delster
Burberrygirl, like me, Steel is Irish and since she says she did the Leaving Cert she must have gone to secondary school here in Ireland.


I went to a public school but it in no way resembled an American high school. Think uniforms, nuns, priests, compulsory religious education, a ban on leaving the school grounds between 9am and 4pm, no make-up (believe me, we broke that rule!), no jewellery, and no boys. It was a good education, I got excellent Leaving Cert results and got my second choice university place.


Honestly, though, I believe a private school education would have been better. In my degree studies and in my chosen career I have met a lot of people who went to private school and entirely aside from the stellar academic instruction they received there is an easy confidence that it instilled in them that I simply don''t have and never will have. Now in many cases that confidence could do with having been tempered by a strong dose of perspective, but overall I think they got a better education and a better formative environment than I did.


Here you can choose a public school that has a particular religious affiliation, or that is a particular gender only, so that''s a big difference with public school in the States. And private school in Ireland is outrageously exclusive - waiting lists for the top schools start from before birth (and that''s even if you have a parent that''s an alum), and you need to budget about €10k per term (three terms per year). At least university education is free (for the moment)...

Delster, it''s interesting to hear about education outside of the U.S.

I thought TGal was from California, so I''m not sure how much Irish public or private schools are going to influence her choice (unless she plans on making a big move lol).

Now that is a thought! Would it be great for thread originators to mention their location in the title; that way we will know whether to reply or not based on sufficient geographical proximity?

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 8/5/2009 12:33:45 PM
Author: Steel

Date: 8/5/2009 9:27:52 AM
Author: Burberrygirl

Date: 8/5/2009 9:05:57 AM
Author: Delster
Burberrygirl, like me, Steel is Irish and since she says she did the Leaving Cert she must have gone to secondary school here in Ireland.


I went to a public school but it in no way resembled an American high school. Think uniforms, nuns, priests, compulsory religious education, a ban on leaving the school grounds between 9am and 4pm, no make-up (believe me, we broke that rule!), no jewellery, and no boys. It was a good education, I got excellent Leaving Cert results and got my second choice university place.


Honestly, though, I believe a private school education would have been better. In my degree studies and in my chosen career I have met a lot of people who went to private school and entirely aside from the stellar academic instruction they received there is an easy confidence that it instilled in them that I simply don''t have and never will have. Now in many cases that confidence could do with having been tempered by a strong dose of perspective, but overall I think they got a better education and a better formative environment than I did.


Here you can choose a public school that has a particular religious affiliation, or that is a particular gender only, so that''s a big difference with public school in the States. And private school in Ireland is outrageously exclusive - waiting lists for the top schools start from before birth (and that''s even if you have a parent that''s an alum), and you need to budget about €10k per term (three terms per year). At least university education is free (for the moment)...

Delster, it''s interesting to hear about education outside of the U.S.

I thought TGal was from California, so I''m not sure how much Irish public or private schools are going to influence her choice (unless she plans on making a big move lol).

Now that is a thought! Would it be great for thread originators to mention their location in the title; that way we will know whether to reply or not based on sufficient geographical proximity?

Ha, sorry, I thought mentioning CALIFORNIA in my original post might be a bit of a giveaway. Plus this isn''t just advice for me per se...I like hearing about what the school systems are like in other parts of the world.

Interesting viewpoints everyone. I went through one of the best public school systems in the country (Amberwaves, I went through the beach cities school system that you mentioned). So I figure I have to be a bit biased and not all school systems are like the one I experienced.

I''ll have to look into charter schools - those sound interesting.

 

[qtiekiki]

This is a tough choice for us as well. DH got the house when he was single, and the public schools (specifically the high school) are not that great. Obviously he was thinking about his future kids when he got the house. He told me he looked at houses in a better school district, but MIL told him not to get the house b/c it had red carpet. Really ridiculous, but that's a different thread.

I am really torn b/c I believe that kids can excel in the public school system, but at the same time I want provide them with the best academic enviroment. We definitely need to discuss this more, but DH kept insisting that we won't live in this house forever. I really don't think we'll move to another house before M is school age.

ETA: DH and I both went to public high schools where people would borrow addresses to attend. So I don't know how bad the public schools can be. And that scares me.

 

[Steel]

Date: 8/5/2009 1:37:44 AM
Author:TravelingGal
Any thoughts on this? As TGuy and I come to a fork in the road, we have to decide some things. One of them is private vs public schools.

I''m a believer in public schools. But the areas with good schools are still a bit out of our price range. So I wonder, would be better to move to a nice area that isn''t the BEST, and then put the kid in private school? And what makes a ''good'' school anyway? We could save a lot of money buying a home that''s a nice, but not the best, area.

What are your thoughts on public vs private? With California''s budget cuts, the gap may get wider and wider....

Date: 8/5/2009 12:41:56 PM
Author: TravelingGal

Date: 8/5/2009 12:33:45 PM
Author: Steel
Now that is a thought! Would it be great for thread originators to mention their location in the title; that way we will know whether to reply or not based on sufficient geographical proximity?

Ha, sorry, I thought mentioning CALIFORNIA in my original post might be a bit of a giveaway. Plus this isn''t just advice for me per se...I like hearing about what the school systems are like in other parts of the world.

Interesting viewpoints everyone. I went through one of the best public school systems in the country (Amberwaves, I went through the beach cities school system that you mentioned). So I figure I have to be a bit biased and not all school systems are like the one I experienced.

I''ll have to look into charter schools - those sound interesting.

Oh, my mistake you clearly asked for opinions on Californian Public v''s Private.

 

[Haven]

Date: 8/5/2009 8:50:00 AM
Author: Maria D

Date: 8/5/2009 3:19:13 AM
Author: Haven
The ideal? One of those outrageously old-moneyed educations, a la Amory Blaine in This Side of Paradise. You know--drag the kid all over Europe and South America. spend a lot of time with interesting, cultured, borderline crazy intellectuals and artistes. Put him on a sailboat every now and then. Surround him with good literature and intriguing artwork. Expose him to several languages. See what happens.

Helpful, right?

Spoken like a true teacher of a 'liberal arts' discipline!

I read that and thought, hmmm, this kid will end up like my students who love to discuss and deliberate about things like the theory of relativity but who can't be bothered to learn how to do any of the math that's needed to actually apply physics! In other words, as a math teacher I think your scenario is ideal for summer vacation Haven, but not for vigorous learning of math and science.

Tgal, as you can see, responses will be as individual as the private vs. public schools you are comparing. I have taught in both.

Here are some things to consider. In my state, private schools are not bound by the same rules as public. Teachers do not require certification. This is not necessarily a bad thing. The reason I taught at a private high school for years was because I didn't yet have my cert. -- but I was just as qualified to teach math then as I am now. However, I would say there were teachers at that particular private school that had no business teaching the subjects they were teaching. Does this happen at public schools too? It's not supposed to with NCLB but that doesn't mean you won't have teachers who are qualified 'on paper' who aren't very good teachers. Private schools are not required to have the special ed. services that public schools are. The conventional wisdom around here is that if your child has a learning disability, send them to public school. Private schools tend to have a wonderful sense of community where the parents feel as much a part of the school as the students do. This can be the case with a public school as well, but I don't think it's as prevalent.

My own daughter goes to the same public high school that I now teach at. I was teaching at a private high school when she started 9th grade and she had zero interest in attending that school -- which she could have attended for free as I was a faculty member! (little did she know I'd be following her to the public school a year later

) We were fine with her decision at the time and are thrilled with it now as she is thriving. But, she's the kind of kid who would do well anywhere because she's blessed with intelligence and (even more importantly) self-motivation. She's happy because her school is a good fit for her -- it has diversity that is unmatched by any private school around here.

As for prevalence of drugs, I think that has more to do with community values, wealth, and lack of adult supervision than public vs. private. I went to a private somewhat elite college where I met prep school kids for the first time. They had been doing more (and expensive) drugs in their high school years than any of my public high school buddies. The same seems to be true today from what I can see. There are some well-moneyed towns around here that have excellent public and private high schools yet still have definite alcohol and drug problems.

Bottom line is it depends on the school AND the kid. So, I'm not much help either -- that intellectual-on-a-sailboat-education is starting to sound better adn better!

Hmm, you are absolutely correct, Maria. I do believe it is more important to teach individuals to problem solve, to think for themselves, and to clearly communicate their ideas and beliefs than it is to be able to do the math that is required to apply physics. In fact, I believe skills trump content in every single content area, not just English or history. That way, we end up with conscientious, involved citizens who possess the *skills* and *abilities* necessary to learn whatever they need to learn for whatever discipline they choose as a career, physics included.

I'm sure you didn't mean to sound dismissive, but you did. I'm going to assume that you didn't mean to.

For whatever it's worth, for every student who can't be bothered to learn the math necessary to apply physics, there is another who can't be bothered to actually think on an abstract level, he'd much rather just fill in a blank. Tell me, who do you think will fare better in life after formal schooling--the child who can think for himself, or the one who knows the correct number to put on the little blank line? *Every* discipline must teach students how to do both of these things--think and communicate, and fill in the blank. One is not the exclusive property of the liberal arts, and the other of the sciences. At least, not as I see things.

I think you gave you excellent insight into the differences between public and private schools, and your observations about the prevalence of drugs are spot-on with my own personal experience.

Maybe we need a very large sailboat--we can load it down with literature *and* textbooks.

ETA: And you did realize I was being tongue-in-cheek anyway, right? Sailboats make me dizzy.