School-Aged Children
thoughts on priviate school vs public school please
I have a few years still, but im leaning towards private school. IF we only have one child. There is no way we could afford it for 2 kids. Right now I pay a little more for daycare than what a private school would cost so I know i can afford it. So , what are your thoughts on the two? I have a friend who sent his son to private school for elementry and said it was worth every penny. I just would like to hear what other people, people I dont know, think of it.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: thoughts on priviate school vs public school please
My DH & I have been having this debate. He was mostly private schooled with a short stint in public & felt like he got a much better education in private, plus it was a Christian-based school which was important to him/his family. I was public schooled. We are lucky to live in an area where people move here JUST for the schools. So I have a hard time justifying to myself that it's better to pay for it privately when we already do so through our taxes. If we lived in an area where there were less than stellar schools, there probably wouldn't be a question- we'd do private.
Our oldest is in kinder & we agreed for now to go public. DH has backed off the private thing for now because she's doing great- reading already, enthusiastic about school, etc. We also don't have a whole lot of private Christian schools to choose from, so it would involve more driving/logistics to get kids back & forth. I personally feel like I can stay more "plugged in" to our local school since it's just up the street.
You may actually still need to pay for childcare even when LO starts school. With our school hours, we have DD in the after school program (which is very inexpensive). But still, it is an extra expense.
For your actual question, I was public schooled and private never really interested me. I am in walking distance to the school until grade 6 and then that is just the next street over, so its very easy for me to be connected.
We send our children to Catholic school K - 8, and then we will continue on to a Catholic High School when the time comes. There education is top notch. By the time they finish 8th grade they are one year ahead of the public schools. They start foreign language in Kindergarten, they have computers, art, physical education and library and of course religion as their extra curriculars. In the Catholic high schools that most of our school end up attending have a 100% graduation rate and 100% of them go onto college.
I have to disagree with previous poster (Auntie) who stated that public school teachers are higher qualified. Almost every single one of our teachers have an MBA and those who don't are currently in the program to get their MBA. They all have to keep their certification current and they have to attend workshops periodically throughout the year too. I feel the teachers who teach in a private school are more dedicated to their students instead of just their paychecks, since our teachers definitely get paid just a fraction of what public schools pay. The wonderful thing about private school is that there is no teacher's union to keep a school from firing bad teachers. In private schools if you aren't doing the job you were hired to do they can fire you.
A lot of public schools have those specials as well. My students (4th graders in a large public district) do these each day for 50 minutes. They also have orchestra starting in 3rd grade, chorus starting in 5th grade, student council, as well as several other club opportunities after school.
As far as the MBA, why would teachers want an MBA? Generally teachers get their Master's in something related to education-reading, math, general education, admin, etc. As an elementary teacher an MBA would be pointless for me.
While a union can and does protect educators, it isn't something that puts a force field around us that can't be touched! Teachers can be fired...they just have to be given the chance to fix their issue (unless it is something like abuse, etc) and then told the reason they are being fired.
Sorry I did not mean an MBA, I meant a Masters in Education. Sorry I was thinking of my own career when I typed. No need to get snippy with the "WTF", I just typed it incorrectly. You could of asked if that's what I meant.
Our public school is better equipped to handle our son's learning issues (currently having him evaluated) than the private school he is now attending.
I think there are certainly advantages/disadvantages to both.
Big - 1 year old
Bigger - 6 years old
Biggest - 13 years old
you can debate this on an online site all you want... you have to investigate schools in your area. some catholic schools are just for the bubble ... or as I've heard some scummy people say " to keep kids out of the elements." some parochial and private schools really are awesome. in general, public schools tend to have more advanced courses and more vo-tech courses available. I went to a catholic school in the South... even taking AP classes, I missed out on experiences in the sciences... I'd say AP instruction wasn't as good as friends gen science classes in the North and Midwest. but it was a better alternative to the public schools at the time. go to your local board, tour schools in your city, talk to moms on the soccer field.
good luck!