Private school is the new public school?

[Anonymous]

I've seen many pro-public school comments from people who attended public schools and were very positive about their experience. But I wonder how similar the public schools of our childhood are to the public schools of today. In the public school system I attended (admittedly one of the top-ranked in the country), we had classes of 20 students or less much of the time (16 in my kindergarten class, four in high school Russian); chorus, band, and orchestra and the opportunity to learn to play a wide variety of instruments in school; career teachers who had attended schools like Princeton and Amherst; etc. Today in order to find a similar environment it seems like we have to pay $25k per year. Have the public schools changed that much in 30-40 years?

[Anonymous]

Where did you go to public school????

I didn't attend public school, but my neighborhood's public school was always Top Twenty in the nation. DH did attend public school; his school was always in the Top Ten (top five, actually). However, neither of us remember many Ivy League teachers or classes with less than twenty students (except some honors classes). I don't think my neighborhood's school had an orchestra, but it did have a heck of a lacrosse team, which led to lots of scholarships way-back-when.

I'm curious to see what others will say. Of course our nation's public schools are facing all sorts of new strains and budgetary constraints. But I really hope that we have to pay $25k a year PER CHILD (I have two babies and one more on the way) to get the same education as years past in public schools.

ps: we're from great neck and scarsdale, ny.

[Anonymous]

Great post. I feel the same way. We also had a lot of playground time in the lower grades, which is limited now, too.

[Anonymous]

I wonder how much public schools will improve once we install a new president and they will hopefully change NCLB!

[Anonymous]

It depends on where you grew up. The public schools where I grew up were, at that time (25 years ago) incapable of teaching a child to read and write, and are still incapable of doing so now. If anything, they're worse since Katrina. Where my huband grew up, the public schools were, and are still, excellent.

[Anonymous]

I think the question is: how excellent? or excellent in what way? Many public school systems are still doing a good job at sending kids to college, but are they providing reasonably individualized instruction, a rich mix of extracurriculars, dedicated, energized staff? (I'm not questioning the innate dedication of public school teachers, but I do wonder about their morale, particularly since the passage of NCLB.)

[Anonymous]

I graduated high school just 12 years ago and my public school was fantastic (in PA - Philly burbs). We had orchestra/band, drama and plays (2 are now on Broadway from my class), a great arts program, photography, computer, all of the sports, languages, trips to study abroad, community service initiatives. It is ranked on the US News best high schools list still. Honors classes were wonderful and we had great teachers (Ivy League doesn't necessarily make you a good teacher, by the way. Most of the best education programs are at the state universities). So, yes it's possible - the MD and VA burb high schools have all of those things. I think what's getting cut out is outside time at the elementary level and arts/music at young ages. NCLB has really done a number on schools. Oh, yes - and the middle school years were my favorite school years! That says a lot!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:(Ivy League doesn't necessarily make you a good teacher, by the way. Most of the best education programs are at the state universities).

True, but I think a really smart AND good teacher can inspire you in ways that a simply dedicated, well-trained one cannot. Not that all Ivy Leaguers are smart or that state university graduates are not, but in my experience, the best teachers (just talking about high school) were graduates of very good liberal arts colleges or universities who really cared about their subjects. They were older teachers by and large and were gradually replaced by teachers who were more likely to have majored in education and did not, IMHO, particularly inspire. Part of the gap was undoubtedly due to the difference in experience, but I think the difference in training mattered too.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, I didn't mean to redirect the thread.

To go back to the original question, I think you're probably right: the biggest differences are in the lower grades.

We are actually thinking of going private for K-8 and public for high school (although that's a long way off).

[Anonymous]

I hate to break it to people, but before NCLB we still had state testing, and it will stay even if NCLB goes away. I am a teacher in VA where we have SOL tests. They started before NCLB went into effect, and if NCLB goes away, they will most likely still be there. And personally, I don't think NCLB is that bad because it forces schools/counties/states to think about and become accountable for ALL students. I teach ESL, and in my experience these students are often forgotten. We have many students who just disappear because the system doesn't work for them. Because of NCLB, my school now has to make sure that these students are learning too - if the LEP (Limited English Proficient) students do not make proficiency on the SOLs, our school might lose accreditation. So, yes, NCLB is not ideal and no one wants to teach to the test, but it has made schools think a lot about certain populations that are often forgotten or ignored, especially in this extremely wealthy area where the emphasis is often about what IB/AP and gifted programs a school has to offer, rather than making sure ALL students are learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've seen many pro-public school comments from people who attended public schools and were very positive about their experience. But I wonder how similar the public schools of our childhood are to the public schools of today. In the public school system I attended (admittedly one of the top-ranked in the country), we had classes of 20 students or less much of the time (16 in my kindergarten class, four in high school Russian); chorus, band, and orchestra and the opportunity to learn to play a wide variety of instruments in school; career teachers who had attended schools like Princeton and Amherst; etc. Today in order to find a similar environment it seems like we have to pay $25k per year. Have the public schools changed that much in 30-40 years?

I went to a school like this....in Montgomery County. My children are still too young for school, but I am afraid that public school will not be a good fit for them. I loved being in band (geek--I know) I feel that an hour of music everyday is great. Will my children be offered this? How about drama, or carrying around eggs as pretend babies? I feel that these kids are doing so much homework and are so pressured. The private school that I know about seem so much...nicer.... They have more arts, more outlets for creativity and less pressure.

[Anonymous]

I thought the idea behind the original post title was that public schools are now so high pressure due to testing and NCLB that they are the new private schools in pushing the academics to the expense of being a kid, enjoying recess, the arts, PE, etc. I think the private schools not being under NCLB have more freedom to give kids a more well rounded education in a less pressured environment. Not sure if that is true or not but I thought that was idea around the post.

[Anonymous]

NCLB has jaded our view on sending our child to public school. We have a wonderful elementary school, small, small classes, personable and parents rave over this school. However, after reading and talking to other parents, not only here, but in other parts of the country, decided to send our child to a private school. Makes my husband so darn mad because of taxes, and knowing the local public elementary is rated high in Fairfax co.

Maybe with a new administration, the NCLB might change. It'll be interesting to see the other responses on this thread. I never wanted to bring up NCLB because it seemed to be a hot topic-or the fact that it turned us off on public schools (which we both attended as children).

[Anonymous]

Huh? I really don't understand this question.

In the seventies, the schools were hurting. Budget cuts were frequent, and the teachers were struggling. Open plan schools had been built (so we were stuck with them), but learning in that chaotic, noisy environment was a challenge. The teachers were really unhappy.

Then, in high school, there was so much drug use that kids like me didn't use the bathrooms.


(for the record, this was an affluent area).

So, if the question was "do parents choose private school today to give their kid the quality education of yesteryear?" I think it was misguided.