Private schools are indefensible

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If most public schools in the US offered children a good education appropriate to their abilities, then maybe there wouldn't need to be private schools. But that's very far from the case, While affluent suburban districts are able to do this, the situation is very different in urban and rural areas. I would think the residents of the DC area would already know this. The truth is that the educational opportunities available to US schoolkids are very localized and unfairly deprive a great many of them of the opportunity to achieve their full academic potential.

That is what is indefensible.

Agreed, and that is her conclusion.

Finally two people who get the message that was conveyed.

I agree with that message but the article failed to convey it.

[Anonymous]

If that’s the ultimate message, then the article does a terrible job conveying it. The article mocks private schools for 10 pages, and then tosses in a couple paragraphs at the end to say that all schools should be nice?

I think the true goal was to trash private schools, and to hide it behind a fig leaf of moral superiority.

[Anonymous]

What she fails to mention is that, at least in the cases of Andover and Exeter, their endowments—which she criticized—allows them to be need blind and provide financial aid to 50% of their students. 20% are on full scholarships and the average award covers 80% of tuition.

Convenient omission.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/...hools-are-indefensible/618078/

Don’t let the title turn you off and give this a read!

This article was SO good and thought provoking. None of it was surprised because I figured things were the way they were regarding the chasm between private school and public schools; As well as the wealthy and everyone else.

The world has gotten more competitive. Hence the obsession with getting kids into the right school. Furthermore, I do think it’s unfair that public schools don’t have the same amount of resources as private school. I always knew they had more but I didn’t realize they had *that much more*. It’s no wonder that so many people that make it to the top come from private schools. It feels as if there are no hope for regular public school kids.

Again, really think that every parent should give this a read. Would love to hear everyone’s thoughts!
[Report Post]

This is nonsense. 70% of students at top colleges are from public schools and always have been.

What percentage of high school seniors are in public school? If it's more than 70% then this isn't nonsense.

It is nonsense when you take out the public schools students who would not be eligible for or ever apply to a top university.

2% of high school graduates come from independent schools, but make up 25% of top university student bodies.[i]
Independent schools in DC boast a near 100% college enrollment rate. Wilson HS in DC has a 77% college enrollment rate.

The bolded continues to fly over people's head. So many of these responses are so vacuous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eh. Pressure cooker parents, pressure cooker secondary schools, pressure cooker universities...to what end? Type As gonna Type A. What makes any of that "better"? We have a happy, chill life in our local public. Kids are doing great and I have no doubts they will do just fine in life.

I agree with a lot of this.

I grew up in a pressure cooker environment and now have a high earning, pressure cooker job. It's not actually that great. DH and I have actually decided to cut back our spending and lifestyle significantly, send our kids to a small religious school, and teach our kids how to be happy with simple things in life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What she fails to mention is that, at least in the cases of Andover and Exeter, their endowments—which she criticized—allows them to be need blind and provide financial aid to 50% of their students. 20% are on full scholarships and the average award covers 80% of tuition.

Convenient omission.

Of course. But facts don’t matter. Only virtue signaling. If the private parents cared so much they should pull their kids, put them in publics, become invested in the system, and work for change. But they won’t because that would potentially place their child at a disadvantage.

[Anonymous]

Dumb article. I went to a big public high school and on to some of the best schools in the country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If that’s the ultimate message, then the article does a terrible job conveying it. The article mocks private schools for 10 pages, and then tosses in a couple paragraphs at the end to say that all schools should be nice?

I think the true goal was to trash private schools, and to hide it behind a fig leaf of moral superiority.

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If that’s the ultimate message, then the article does a terrible job conveying it. The article mocks private schools for 10 pages, and then tosses in a couple paragraphs at the end to say that all schools should be nice?

I think the true goal was to trash private schools, and to hide it behind a fig leaf of moral superiority.

+1000

Caitlin Flanagan has written some great pieces over the years about her experiences as a teacher and college counselor at Harvard Westlake in LA, but this is a plate of warmed up leftovers.

It's a shame as a piece on this topic really could be so good. But this just recycles these well worn anecdotes about Sidwell then adds some moralizing at the end.

Also... she makes a lot of the Polaris List - but the top two schools on here are public, not private.
https://polarislist.com/

And I think that sort of gets at a larger point.... the problem with the way affluent parents think about education and getting their own kids ahead is so much bigger and deeper and weirder and more depressing than what she's laid out here.

[Anonymous]

Listen to Caitlin Flanagan, let's all turn down our private school acceptances this week!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/...hools-are-indefensible/618078/

Don’t let the title turn you off and give this a read!

This article was SO good and thought provoking. None of it was surprised because I figured things were the way they were regarding the chasm between private school and public schools; As well as the wealthy and everyone else.

The world has gotten more competitive. Hence the obsession with getting kids into the right school. Furthermore, I do think it’s unfair that public schools don’t have the same amount of resources as private school. I always knew they had more but I didn’t realize they had *that much more*. It’s no wonder that so many people that make it to the top come from private schools. It feels as if there are no hope for regular public school kids.

Again, really think that every parent should give this a read. Would love to hear everyone’s thoughts!
[Report Post]

This is nonsense. 70% of students at top colleges are from public schools and always have been.

What percentage of high school seniors are in public school? If it's more than 70% then this isn't nonsense.

It is nonsense when you take out the public schools students who would not be eligible for or ever apply to a top university.

2% of high school graduates come from independent schools, but make up 25% of top university student bodies.[i]
Independent schools in DC boast a near 100% college enrollment rate. Wilson HS in DC has a 77% college enrollment rate.

The bolded continues to fly over people's head. So many of these responses are so vacuous.

My response to the 2% observation is: So what? Isn’t that why, at least in part, we send our kids to private schools—so they can receive a better education and more opportunities? I understand that not everyone may be as fortunate, but why should I let someone shame me or my child for having good fortune? Should I force my child to attend public school (BTW, we live in an excellent school district) simply because others feel it is more equitable?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/...hools-are-indefensible/618078/

Don’t let the title turn you off and give this a read!

This article was SO good and thought provoking. None of it was surprised because I figured things were the way they were regarding the chasm between private school and public schools; As well as the wealthy and everyone else.

The world has gotten more competitive. Hence the obsession with getting kids into the right school. Furthermore, I do think it’s unfair that public schools don’t have the same amount of resources as private school. I always knew they had more but I didn’t realize they had *that much more*. It’s no wonder that so many people that make it to the top come from private schools. It feels as if there are no hope for regular public school kids.

Again, really think that every parent should give this a read. Would love to hear everyone’s thoughts!
[Report Post]

This is nonsense. 70% of students at top colleges are from public schools and always have been.

What percentage of high school seniors are in public school? If it's more than 70% then this isn't nonsense.

It is nonsense when you take out the public schools students who would not be eligible for or ever apply to a top university.

2% of high school graduates come from independent schools, but make up 25% of top university student bodies.[i]
Independent schools in DC boast a near 100% college enrollment rate. Wilson HS in DC has a 77% college enrollment rate.

The bolded continues to fly over people's head. So many of these responses are so vacuous.

Again, break these stats down with some nuance, and they won't look the same. Please. This is a click-bait article.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The author is Caitlin Flanagan which makes every single word suspect. She is not remotely a trustworthy journalist.

Her descriptions of Harvard School in the late 1980s are mostly accurate. Yeah, we had old buildings that have since been replaced. Yeah, the headmaster took the sides of the teachers when parents complained that their kid was being treated unfairly (or so goes the stories I heard).

That said, I do think she undersells Harvard's standing prior to the merger with Westlake. Harvard School was regularly sending 25% of its students to Ivy Schools. If you want to add Ivy peers (among others, Stanford, Duke, MIT, Cal Tech, Amherst, Northwestern, etc.) it was well-over 50% of the class... To me, that's impressive.

[Anonymous]

Terrible article. Ridiculous. No one has to go private to be successful. No one has to go Ivy to be successful. No one needs a student hall that could rival a palace to be successful.
The problems with education in this country has nothing to do with a handful of parents at a dozen or so schools across the nation.

The issue here is the same that we have in healthcare. We spend the most, but generally get some of the worst outcomes. But no one wants to address the real issues, just pay lip service to them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem is that public schools are expected to do much more than educate children. They provide social services, distribute food, offer healthcare, and childcare. Teachers are there to teach, but the school as an institution has far more responsibilities to meet the needs of the local community than they have the capacity or budget to.
Private schools certainly don't have to grapple with those social challenges, and they can focus on delivering on educating the student academically, physically, and emotionally.
We're leaving MCPS for private HS in September, not because we don't believe in public education, but because this strain on public schools has become so apparent during the pandemic. We'll miss being with kids with true grit, determined to excel and driven to get into the best colleges. But the top 5% of students in public schools are being dragged down by all the other competing issues facing public school administrators.

Sounds like the same complaints about the police lately. Being required to do more than their skills set when instead some department resources would be better directed to those with social work and mental health skills instead of police whose main role should be crime prevention and criminal investigations. So many government institutions need to be revamped for modern times.