Private vs Public schools?

[TravelingGal]

Date: 8/5/2009 12:55:11 PM
Author: 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.

Actually, I didn''t. I was curious as to what people prefer, whether it be in California or Zimbabwe.

 

[elrohwen]

It totally depends. I have friends who came out of great public schools. I went to one that was ridiculously easy, until I left in 9th grade, when it apparently got hard

All of my friends who stayed there said that the academic level rose a lot in the last few years of high school, so I would''ve been fine if I had stayed there. In some ways it would been better because my private school didn''t offer AP (only IB) which was impossible to get college credit for

But that''s another issue.

In general I would like to support public schools, but in your case, TGal, I would probably go for the cheaper home and private school.

 

[qtiekiki]

Steel - I am sure Tgal appreciates your input. And to be fair to Tgal, she isn''t asking specifically about California''s public vs private schools, but education in the US. The education system in US is just so different that you can''t compare internationally.

I went to elementary school in Hong Kong. And even the public schools are a lot stricter there. I just think standards are different and not comparable.

 

[tigian]

As a child, I attended a low income area public school and when I look back, I wish I hadn''t. My parents are educated and felt that education really comes from the home and wanted me to be exposed to children in other socioeconomic backgrounds. Although now, I appreciate the exposure and feel it has helped me as an adult to be more understanding towards people in general, I wouldn''t do the same with my kids. I was really lonely at times K-6.
In the future, I would like to be able to send my kids to charter schools or private school. When I was in college, I really thought that the kids who went to private schools or known good public schools were much better prepared for a academically vigorous university.
I turned out fine though.

I think.

 

[qtiekiki]

Date: 8/5/2009 1:21:48 PM
Author: tigian
As a child, I attended a low income area public school and when I look back, I wish I hadn''t. My parents are educated and felt that education really comes from the home and wanted me to be exposed to children in other socioeconomic backgrounds. Although now, I appreciate the exposure and feel it has helped me as an adult to be more understanding towards people in general, I wouldn''t do the same with my kids. I was really lonely at times K-6.
In the future, I would like to be able to send my kids to charter schools or private school. When I was in college, I really thought that the kids who went to private schools or known good public schools were much better prepared for a academically vigorous university.
I turned out fine though.

I think.

Thanks for sharing your experience. That''s part of the reason why I want to send my kids to public school, so hearing your experience will make me think more about this.

 

[vespergirl]

It depends on the area, but I choose fancy neighborhood with good public schools. Where we live in the DC metro area, your average Catholic school tuition is around $15K/yr and secular private schools are around $20K/yr. You can''t get a decent single family home for under $500K (and that''s with today''s bottomed-out prices) but at least the public schools are great - some of the best in the country. You can also argue that you''re getting a better return on your investment buying a house in a fancy area than you do paying for 12 years of private school. Some of my parents'' friends in NYC sent their kids to super-expensive private schools, costing them hundreds of thousands K-12, and then both went to college and dropped out the first year, so all that money they spent on their kids'' educations for nothing.

Where I grew up on Long Island, NY, I also lived in an excellent public school district. However, I disagree about diversity in public schools - it depends on your area. For example, the school I went to was 80% white/Jewish, 15% white Catholic/Christian, 5% Asian, and there were literally, like, 10 Hispanic kids, and literally only 2 black kids for my entire four years of HS, and they were brother and sister. So, public doesn''t necessarily mean diverse.

Anyway, we decided to move to the tony suburb, where our son will be attending some of the country''s best public schools. He''s going to private pre-school starting this fall, but we''ll move him to the public school for kindergarten. We would rather save our money to pay for him to get his college education anywhere he wants to go.

 

[KimberlyH]

Private school, without a doubt. For all of the following reasons and so many more: classroom size, individualized attention, guidance towards futures that are fitting of who a child is and the potential person they can become, parental involvement.

 

[NovemberBride]

I think it depends on where you live. In many wealthy areas, I don''t think there is any real difference between the public and private schools. For example, I grew up in a wealthy DC suburb (pretty sure it''s the same one where Vespergirl lives now). I and one of my younger brothers went to private school, and my youngest brother went to the public high school. There was very little difference between the two, although my parents paid tens of thousands of dollars for the private school. For example, both schools were majority white, with some Asian and MIddle Eastern students (so very little diversity), drugs and alcohol were plentiful at both if you wanted them (kids had plenty of disposable income from their parents), close to 100% of students at both schools went to college, with lots of Ivy league and other top schools represented at both, both schools had great academics, including lots of AP offerings. Where DH and I live now (wealthy Philly suburbs) I feel that it''s pretty much the same. We chose to buy less house so that we could live in one of the top school districts in the state. We haven''t yet decided if we''ll send our soon to be born daughter to public or private, but by buying a home in this district we left ourselves that choice. I am a huge advocate of buying a home in the best district you can. Who knows what your financial circumstances will be in a few years, and I would rather have the comfort that my daughter would hahve access to a great education whether or not I can afford private school tuition. I have a hard time seeing paying $20k/year for private school when the public schools that I already pay for through my taxes provide the same education. Now, if I lived in the city of Philly, it wouldn''t even be a question, private school for sure.

 

[cara]

It totally depends on the schools in question and the tuition/house price/house attributes involved. While in principle I'm a public schools supporter, my kid thriving is more important to me. Some public schools are great and some are not. Some kids are robust and could thrive at a medium-quality public school where others would drown or get lost in the crowd. So the question is - where can my kid thrive best and, if it is private school, can we afford it and it is worth it?

I went to montessori pre-k and kindergarten and had a rough transition to public elementary school. Some combination of above average academic skills and average/below average social skills lead to boredom and loneliness. Did much better when I transitioned to public magnet schools, which I went to from late elementary age through high school. Ended up with an excellent public education in a diverse environment.

But this was in one of the best school districts in the country, and I was a good student who probably would have done well academically anywhere. I later taught at an inner city Catholic girls school, with a predominantly lower income/immigrant student population and the education was simply insufficient for me to ever consider sending my child there. I did my best but the kids were just so far from where I had been at that age in terms of skills and learning and everything, as well as having completely different expectations at home, that it seemed *almost* impossible to me that these kids could graduate and be prepared for my first year at college. The leap would have been too big. And yet it was probably a better education in a safer environment than the local public schools. So. Details matter.

Also, parents matter but so do peers and the school environment and expectations. While kids with highly educated and involved parents will do better than average kids at a school with many lower-income, less educated parents, on average those kids would have done even better in an environment with other kids with highly educated parents with high educational expectations of their kids. Studies have shown this, and it is important to think about who and what structure and environment is going to be surrounding and influencing your kid during those difficult adolescent years when they are striving to separate from their parents. Parents are still supremely influencial, but there are other strong influences that can not be ignored.

Generalities aren't great because their are such wide diversities in both public and private and charter schools, but here are a few anyway: you can get a better sense of community in a smaller school, and private schools both tend to be smaller and to foster this sense of community. You may have better options (in terms of course availability or options) at some of the larger public schools - those that haven't been stripped of all their electives or advanced courses in the budget grind.

 

[cara]

I woln''t quote it cause its gotten too long, but as a physicist who got a wonderful liberal arts education, there is a need for some structured formal learning that would be difficult to obtain on a sailboat... Though I completely agree that one needs real problem solving skills rather than fill-in-the-blank skills, and that those skills are not in any way tied to a particular field of study. You can have fill-in-the-blank math skills or real problem solving math skills. You can have fill-in-the-blank history knowledge, or a more conceptual and nuanced understanding of history.

While in theory it sounds nice that a smart person with critical thinking skills might just decide one day to teach themselves all the math and background physics they need to know for some problem that occurred to them, or even to pursue a career that requires them to know some physics, it just isn''t that realistic or easy to pick up all the necessary math and science knowledge and thinking skills later in life. You need to start early, building on skills learned previously, with repetition over *years* to help cement and reinforce and broaden your knowledge, and while learning fair number of boring things that seem completely useless or impossible at the time only to realize years later that they are necessary or useful in other pursuits, and that you understand them now. There are so many people that are blocked out of careers in math and science because they haven''t taken the appropriate prerequisites at a critical time - like no algebra before taking certain high school science classes, or no calculus (or even pre-calc) before going to college. You can always go back and make it up, but this is a much harder path and few people choose it.

 

[mrssalvo]

we chose more expensive area and public school with excellent school system. I grew up going to public schools although it was a magnet that you tested into and my hubby went to private. He will not send any of our kids to a private school based on his own experience. he hated it but did very well, graduated a year early, would have been valedictorian if he would have waited the year and graduated with his own class. you start adding second/third kids private school costs are so insane you might as well get the nicer neighborhood/house in my part of the country.

 

[CNOS128]

Depends on the school, and depends on the kid (and her parents).
Some kids will do great in most environments. Some kids need a certain kind of structure or administration or environment. Some private schools are great for some kids and lousy for others. Same goes for public schools.

As a kid I lived in a mediocre school district and attended a slightly better religious private school. Then we moved to an excellent district and I attended wonderful public schools. Both situations were great for me and my brother - both had small classes, individualized attention, high standards, emphasis on pursuing a college education, etc. But both situations were horrible for my sister. Eventually she entered into a small alternative (public) school that was great for her.

That said, if I lived in LA, I would almost certainly try to send my kids to private schools.

 

[trillionaire]

I went to public and private. I was in Baltimore county public schools 1-8th Grade, and private school in KS for 9-12th. In Baltimore County, I probably would have sent my kid to private high school, but in KS, it was totally unnecessary. My sister went to public school K-12 and got a great education, probably better in HS than mine was. My brother, however, was public 2-5th private K-1st and 6-12th. He went to Jesuit high schools, that were AMAZING! He had an incredible education in the classics, greek, latin, and a host of subjects, and I was always very jealous. I would send my child to a good jesuit school without question.

 

[phoenixgirl]

I'm a public school teacher too, but my brother-in-law teaches at a prestigious private boarding school. My sister got a job there teaching fresh out of college without teaching certification or a background in education, so I'm not sure that just because it's a big bucks private school means that the teachers are any better qualified or prepared. As with many things in life, a lot depends on the individual teachers your children have, especially in elementary school when so much time is spent with the primary teacher. Other considerations would be special programs or philosophies employed by the school.

We live in the city, but I teach in the suburbs. However, the fancy suburbs have retreated further and further from the city, so my "suburban" school is actually quite diverse socio-economically and ethnically with many students being first generation immigrants from Vietnam, Bosnia, northern Africa, etc.

I believe I am an excellent teacher, but would I send my child to the school where I teach? No, I don't think so. It's totally different from the public suburban school I attended in New Jersey (where you exorbitant property taxes are your "tuition" to the schools). The top 5 in my class all went to Harvard (2), Princeton (2), and Yale. Very rarely does anyone at the top of the class from the school where I teach go anywhere private or out of state, and only 70% attend college at all. (I want you to know that I love my job and my students very much. I am not judging them as being any lesser. Some of the teachers in my school are real superstars, but there are others, the ones who turn over every year or two, who are really just wasting the students' time. You find those in every school, but the more prestigious the reputation of the school, the less likely those teachers are to get asked back year after year.)

Of course, our tiny house in the city costs more than the houses most of my students live in. So if DH and I decided we were suburb people, we would wind up in a different district. Sadly, though, the city schools are by and large "worse" than the school where I teach. Still, we're going to make a go of it. The city has open enrollment in all schools; only 50% of students live within the boundaries of the top-rated city elementary school, so I believe our chances of getting in are very great, and if we don't, we'll find out in February (in 2016 when baby girl is getting ready to enter kindergarten . . . can you tell I'm a long-range planner?) and we can move into the district (it's literally only two blocks away) if we haven't already moved out of our house. Those houses are older and a little bigger, so we might feel the need to do that by then anyway (if we haven't decided just to spend that $ on a condo in Paris!).

After that, we'll see about the programs we can make use of. Our neighbor's children both got into the IB middle school and the elder is attending the governor's school for high school. Of course, we'll have to see what our bambina's interests and skills are once she's a) born and b) a little older! But I know that we have a lot of public school options where we live, so we don't have to leave the city we love just to get a good education for our kids. The life education of living in a city with such interesting people and so many cultural opportunities will make up for what may be lacking in other areas.

There's one biggish (like, not tiny where your class is only 50 people) nonreligious co-ed private school around, so we would consider that if we weren't happy with our public options. But to me as a public school teacher and city dweller, it would be sort of going against who we are to drive our kid out that posh world of country club memberships and giving your kid a brand new luxury car on her 16th birthday. We'll have to weigh all the options when we get to that point.

TGal, where would you prefer to live? That's a big part of it to me. I always thought the suburbs were "safe" and the city was not, but now that I've lived here and see how well-adjusted children can be who grow up here, I realize that I don't need to force myself to live somewhere I don't like just to make sure the schools are good. But if it was just a matter of spending a little more to buy the house I really wanted in the A+ suburban district versus the B+ suburban district, I'd try to go for the A+ if possible since it sounds like you'd really be happy there too.

 

[puffy]

if we stay in our current district, then i would be more ok with sending my kids to public, as the public school system in our district is actually really good. but if we end up moving, we would definitely consider private school. by saying that i would be ok with sending the kids to a public school doesn''t mean that we are 100% going to. in the end DH and i are MORE comfortable with the kids going to a private school, but we''ll have to see when the time comes.

i went to private school all my life, from kindergarden to college, and DH went to public schools all his life. i know the school systems have changed a bit since we have been in school. i''m not saying that i turned out better than DH or the other way around. DH admits that he did not receive the best education in public schools, and had he not been too busy trying to cut class or whatnot, maybe he would have done better. with that, he is swaying more towards private schools.

 

[Maria D]

Date: 8/5/2009 12:58:54 PM
Author: Haven


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

>snip<

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.

oh my! No, I definitely didn''t mean to sound dismissive! Please note my post count vs. the amount of time I''ve been a member of this forum. There''s a reason I don''t post much. Expressing myself through written word is not my forte -- did I mention I''m a math teacher? While I did think you were being tongue-in-cheek, I also seriously thought your scenario might be a great way to learn about history, art, literature and languages (with the right student). But I don''t think it would work so well with the rest of our core high school subjects. In any case, I was probably reacting not to your post so much as the modern directives we (as teachers) get to differentiate instruction! engage the students by making it fun and relevant! Well sometimes being able to solve a math problem isn''t relevant to anything in the life of an adolescent at all and the fun comes only in the satisfaction of being able to solve the problem. But that''s another discussion entirely...

I hate all boats actually...but the beach would be divine!

 

[Delster]

Date: 8/5/2009 1:00:05 PM
Author: TravelingGal

Date: 8/5/2009 12:55:11 PM

Author: 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.

Actually, I didn''t. I was curious as to what people prefer, whether it be in California or Zimbabwe.

TGal I got that, and for what it''s worth I think sharing perspectives is always valuable, whether they''re international or just inter-State. Amelia will do just great you know - she''s got a kick-a** Mom!

 

[Haven]

Maria--Gotcha! I left for the afternoon and then worried that I may have sounded snarky, which I didn''t mean. I just wanted to clear the air, really.

I understand where you''re coming from re: differentiation and being expected to entertain the students, and I agree with you on that front entirely. I also know, of course, that we must teach students both content and skills, and that we cannot achieve both on a sailboat.

If I had to guess, I''d say that we probably agree on a lot of things about education.

I''m with you on the beach, too. I''ll bring the blankets, you bring the sunscreen?

TGal--I would spend a lot of time considering what I want my child to get out of his education. Then I would research and visit schools to determine which might best fit the bill. It takes a lot of legwork, but rankings and performance on standardized tests don''t show you much at all. I attended a top-rated high school, blue ribbon awards and national rankings and all that. I certainly don''t think I learned very much there at all.

 

[purrfectpear]

Just so you''ll know, the majority of "private" schools around LA aren''t much better than public schools (depending upon school district), until you get to what I call the "real" private schools (you know, the kind that cost around $18K a year that you have to audition for admittance and have waiting lists).

If you''re going to spend that kind of money on a private school (and not just some religious private or charter school) you might want to go ahead and spend it on the better neighborhood instead. BTW, here in So Cal the private schools have drug issues too, the kids just afford better drugs, or pass around their parents pharmaceuticals.

 

[luckystar112]

I live in an area with very good public schools, but I don't know too much about how they operate.

However, I would never send my kids to the charter school that I sub at.
Many of the students were pulled from public school to go there and they complain to me often about how much they HATE it. It's like what Maria D said: Many teachers aren't certified; no special ed services*; and not to mention it lacks much of what I consider the school "experience"---sports, band, clubs, yearbooks, proms, homecomings, etc. Basically everything that made school FUN, IMO!

My DH attended private school during his middle school years and he said that he really didn't notice too much of a difference in what he learned. Same for my brother, who attended a Catholic school up to grade 8.

So, IMO, I'd pick buying less house in a good district over doling out the cash for private school.

*Re: special-ed. It's very sad. I subbed for a (9th grade) class once where one of the students CLEARLY suffered from some type of learning disability. While the rest of the class was completing worksheets on the anatomy of the HIV virus, this boy was doing a worksheet that easily could have been taken from a 1st grader's workbook--and he got almost every question wrong. I actually remember being pretty bothered by the fact that he is forced to sit in that class all day long, not having any idea what everyone else is talking about. Did mommy and daddy want it that way? I don't know--I just know that public schools have many more resources available to them. The trick is finding a good one!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

My kids are in public school. I'm a regular volunteer in the school and have witnessed four teachers (my older son's k-2nd grade and my younger's kindergarten teacher) and found it's less about the school than it it about the individual teacher. Talking and being active with parents is the best way to determine which teachers will mesh with your child(ren). Three of the four teachers I mentioned were excellent. The fourth was excruciatingly terrible. She had no control over the kids and they would roll around on the floor, walk out of class w/out asking, flicker the lights on an off. We could blame the actions on the kids, however, a teacher with initiative and strong willed would have kept those kids in check. The only reason my son excelled, especially in reading, was because of the amount of support I gave him. Basically, other than that, that teacher wasted 1 entire year of 22 second graders because they were running loose and not listening.

I already went to the district to be sure my younger son isn't placed with that teacher.

Sorry for the rant. Point being - be active within the school to see how things are run.

Oh, and we cannot afford private school and I wouldn't have the patience homeschooling my kids. The middle ground I took was taking them to the library weekly. Allowing them to stay up later as long as they spent that time in bed reading. And, this next year, I'll be focusing more on mathematic skills. We also have numerous science projects we work on weekly.

 

[KimberlyH]

Date: 8/5/2009 4:52:00 PM
Author: Haven

TGal--I would spend a lot of time considering what I want my child to get out of his education. Then I would research and visit schools to determine which might best fit the bill. It takes a lot of legwork, but rankings and performance on standardized tests don''t show you much at all. I attended a top-rated high school, blue ribbon awards and national rankings and all that. I certainly don''t think I learned very much there at all.

I would add to this sentiment that I would spend a lot of time considering who my child is and what school would best benifit their personality, interests, drive, etc. If you have a passive child a large school would likely not be the best fit, easily lost in the shuffle. If you have a science-minded child a tech charter school might be the best place. If your kid needs lots of structure a more traditional school would be the best fit.

I was in a rush earlier and didn''t share: I grew up in L.A. county, attended private school 1-10 grades and private school in K and 11th, and 12th grades. Those experiences certainly colored my perspective. I teach in a highly rated public school district and my experience has been that not enough children are reached and inspired to love learning. There are a multitude of reasons why from the system itself, to teachers, to personal beliefs about education, to the kids themselves (I wish we taught our students that while it is a right in the U.S., it is a privilege to have the right to go to school), I prefer my child attend private school.

Private school isn''t always going to shield students from drugs, and other bad behavior (although in my case it actually did, the worst things kids did was smoke a little pot, while at my public school kids were drinking in the parking lot and shooting up after school, and this was at a "good" school). But those are life experiences we need to learn to navigate (peer pressure, self control).

Overall I have observed that students needs are better served in private school.

 

[Haven]

re: Special education services in private schools

The law in Illinois is that private school students are entitled to the special services provided in their home district. So, if parents advocate for their children who attend private school they will get the same services. Yes, it is a bit less convenient because that will involve going to the public school for certain services, but they are available. At least, they are in IL.

 

[KimberlyH]

Date: 8/5/2009 7:27:34 PM
Author: Haven
re: Special education services in private schools

The law in Illinois is that private school students are entitled to the special services provided in their home district. So, if parents advocate for their children who attend private school they will get the same services. Yes, it is a bit less convenient because that will involve going to the public school for certain services, but they are available. At least, they are in IL.

That''s true in California as well, if memory serves. I believe it''s part of IDEA.

 

[Hera]

I went to California private schools from preschool to high school graduation and my twin brother went to a public school in High school because my mom thought he wasn''t "valuing his education". The drug scene was more prevalent in my brother''s public school and the students seemed to grow up a little faster. Despite this, the friends he met and my friends all came out with similar careers as Doctors, Engineers, execs.

I bought a house in an area where the schools are good(not excellent). I plan to send my children to private school at the earliest around Junior High and will definitely send them to a private high school.

I am in the camp of not overextending to get into an excellent school district. I firmly believe that I will take a proactive approach to my children''s education and that should be good enough until they go to a private school.

 

[DivaDiamond007]

DH and I both went to public schools - his was in a better district than mine, and in another state. We can''t afford to send our son to a private school unless someone else wants to fund it so public it is. When we are ready to buy/build a house we will only be looking in areas with the better public schools - and that will come with a higher price tag and also higher property taxes.

 

[4ever]

I''m pro public school and anti private school.

Public school and private school teachers get trained in exactly the same place, so I don''t belive the quality of teaching as any better.

In a private school, it''s not just the fees you have to cough up, it all the extra trips and gear like laptops you would not be expected to provide in a public school. Schools here expect parents to fork out thousands so that their child can go on a geography trip to Hawaii or a french trip to France with all their other class mates.

And then you have to think about the kind of kids you want your child hanging out with. Do you want them in a private school where the only other kids they are in contact with are very privilaged and used to having all the best things in the world? I know of kids getting seriously bullied at private school because their school bag isn''t guchi or parada.

You can tell at uni who was a private school kid.

My parents could have afforded to put myself and my siblings in private school but didn''t, and I''m glad. I don''t know about where you live but in New Zealand private schools are full of rich white kids. My high school had a whole range of ethnic groups and socio-economic backrounds, and I liked that, I think it gives kids a more realistic veiw about the world and lets them interact with a variety of people.

 

[clammer]

I''m with Haven.

I think most teachers at any school give everything that they possible can to provide the best education that they can, but they are bound by trying to teach 30ish students within certain parameters. I don''t think there is any way they can reach all of them.

I would love to homeschool/unschool my son. My issue, although I love him with my life, I just don''t think I could handle not having a break from him during the day. I would love to be able to focus on sailboats, or whatever he is interested in, and let him learn everything about that subject. Then moving on to the next subject.

If I had to pick private or public, it would depend on the schools, but I would lean towards public for the diversity.

 

[Haven]

Date: 8/5/2009 9:20:54 PM
Author: 4ever
[ . . . ]
Public school and private school teachers get trained in exactly the same place, so I don't belive the quality of teaching as any better.
[ . . . ]

This is not necessarily true. Public school teachers must become state certified to teach a specific age group and a specific content. This usually entails a BA or MA/MEd degree, and several state tests.

Private schools can (and often) hire individuals who do not have formal education to become teachers. Many private school teachers are certified, but many are not, as well. That's not to say that being certified makes you a good teacher, it doesn't, but it certainly means that you have at least a bare minimum of preparation.

Example: I am certified to teach: English, ESL, theatre, speech, journalism, creative writing, and reading for grades 6 - 12. I am also certified as a reading specialist to teach reading and title 1 remedial reading for grades K - 12.

I earned a master's degree in reading and literacy to become a reading specialist, and it was an intense and enlightening experience. I have met several reading specialists from private schools who do not have any formal training in reading, yet they act as the sole reading teacher for their school. It's a very different situation, in my opinion, and if I had a child with reading needs, I would definitely want him to be working with a certified specialist.

Schools vary so much that it is really difficult to say which is better. I'm very intrigued by the Montessori schools right now, and I just met a wonderful woman who teaches in a Quaker school out in NYC which sounded fascinating. The good news: there are a lot of options out there!

 

[pennquaker09]

Date: 8/5/2009 9:45:35 PM
Author: Haven

Date: 8/5/2009 9:20:54 PM
Author: 4ever
[ . . . ]
Public school and private school teachers get trained in exactly the same place, so I don''t belive the quality of teaching as any better.
[ . . . ]

This is not necessarily true. Public school teachers must become state certified to teach a specific age group and a specific content. This usually entails a BA or MA/MEd degree, and several state tests.

Private schools can (and often) hire individuals who do not have formal education to become teachers. Many private school teachers are certified, but many are not, as well. That''s not to say that being certified makes you a good teacher, it doesn''t, but it certainly means that you have at least a bare minimum of preparation.

Example: I am certified to teach: English, ESL, theatre, speech, journalism, creative writing, and reading for grades 6 - 12. I am also certified as a reading specialist to teach reading and title 1 remedial reading for grades K - 12.

I earned a master''s degree in reading and literacy to become a reading specialist, and it was an intense and enlightening experience. I have met several reading specialists from private schools who do not have any formal training in reading, yet they act as the sole reading teacher for their school. It''s a very different situation, in my opinion, and if I had a child with reading needs, I would definitely want him to be working with a certified specialist.

Schools vary so much that it is really difficult to say which is better. I''m very intrigued by the Montessori schools right now, and I just met a wonderful woman who teaches in a Quaker school out in NYC which sounded fascinating. The good news: there are a lot of options out there!

You''re a freaking rock star!