How does one afford private school in DC for 32,000/year

[Anonymous]

What is your objection to charter schools?

[Anonymous]

You could get a second job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is your objection to charter schools?

Having in depth knowledge of the chartering of the schools and the logistics around being one's own LEA; I don't believe that many charters are sustainable unless they are backed by major corporations. Parents don't realize how much students are actually shorted because of lack of funding and resources in many charter schools. Parents also don't realize the kinds of decisions charters make in order to be sustainable (i.e. tracking and eliminating programing). Many are a promise unfulfilled.

From a philosophical perspective, I think charters pull money and resources away from public schools and they are difficult to get into; therefore they recreate a system in of inequality. That being said, at this point in my life, I am selfishly thinking about the kind of education I had and the kind of education I would like for my children to have. If the public schools in DC were stronger on the middle and high school levels, I would fully support them. Currently, my child is in public. However, I do think I will have to make a decision about private soon. This thread and the other thread on HHI is somewhat depressing as we really would struggle to afford a private school education in DC.

[Anonymous]

You could look for a Catholic school that offers scholarships and/or more reasonable tuition.

You could teach at the school your child attends. Some offer faculty assistance. Most of the time it isn't a free ride but rather need based financial aid.

You could be strategic about what years of private school you do. For instance, K-8 at public or parochial, then high school at an independent school. Of course, you're not guaranteed to get into the the school of your choice. Competition is usually keen at the high school level.

[Anonymous]

They drain resources from public schools, some of their biggest backers are people whose goals are to bust unions and to turn public education into a profit-making operation, and their function as a safety-valve in places like DC can mean that the pressure to fix public schools generally dissipates.

So if I ran the zoo, there wouldn't be charters. (Hell, there probably wouldn't be private schools except, perhaps, parochial schools and special ed schools for kids with learning differences that are rare enough that a typical school district can't support a program that really meets their needs). I'd focus on keeping people in the public system by creating public schools that are as good or better than private schools and by making such schools the rule rather than the exception.

But that public policy orientation doesn't blind me to the fact that there are plenty of kids in DC who will be better educated in charters than in their local DCPS school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is your objection to charter schools?

Having in depth knowledge of the chartering of the schools and the logistics around being one's own LEA; I don't believe that many charters are sustainable unless they are backed by major corporations. Parents don't realize how much students are actually shorted because of lack of funding and resources in many charter schools. Parents also don't realize the kinds of decisions charters make in order to be sustainable (i.e. tracking and eliminating programing). Many are a promise unfulfilled.

From a philosophical perspective, I think charters pull money and resources away from public schools and they are difficult to get into; therefore they recreate a system in of inequality. That being said, at this point in my life, I am selfishly thinking about the kind of education I had and the kind of education I would like for my children to have. If the public schools in DC were stronger on the middle and high school levels, I would fully support them. Currently, my child is in public. However, I do think I will have to make a decision about private soon. This thread and the other thread on HHI is somewhat depressing as we really would struggle to afford a private school education in DC.

I agree with most of this. That said, my older kid is heading off to charter for middle school in the fall. We had a great run for elementary school (on the Hill), but even S-H just doesn't cut it for us for middle school. We couldn't possibly swing private (make about $95k with no chance of increasing by much).

[Anonymous]

Different schools also have different levels at which they'll provide financial aid. B/c I know a family making more than that and receiving aid at a top three school.

[Anonymous]

I think I would do what some earlier posters stated:

1. Look at Catholic Schools; or
2. Forget about private schools -- they're a luxury probably beyond the reach of your income level with 2 kids. Maybe try a good public and supplement with classes/sports/drama, etc.

[Anonymous]

NP here. What about one child in private school on $170-$190k. Is it even worth considering?

[Anonymous]

And no tax break. Excuse the blurt, I'm hurting.

[Anonymous]

Depends on the kid, depends on the school, depends on your financial situation more generally (debt, savings). But, yes, having $70,000 - $90,000 to live on after taxes and tuition to support a family of 3 is a different scenario than trying to support a family of 4 on $38,000 after taxes and tuition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here. What about one child in private school on $170-$190k. Is it even worth considering?

There are a lot of people who send one child to private school on this or less.

[Anonymous]

Less isn't always relevant, since less can mean financial aid. There's some place on the spectrum where you're too affluent for financial aid and not affluent enough to afford tuition. And when you're dealing with situations like full financial aid, it's not as if someone is offering you $32,000 or private school. They're offering you private school or nothing. So the question of whether you'd be better off using the money for something else doesn't arise. It's not an option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is your objection to charter schools?

Having in depth knowledge of the chartering of the schools and the logistics around being one's own LEA; I don't believe that many charters are sustainable unless they are backed by major corporations. Parents don't realize how much students are actually shorted because of lack of funding and resources in many charter schools. Parents also don't realize the kinds of decisions charters make in order to be sustainable (i.e. tracking and eliminating programing). Many are a promise unfulfilled.

From a philosophical perspective, I think charters pull money and resources away from public schools and they are difficult to get into; therefore they recreate a system in of inequality. That being said, at this point in my life, I am selfishly thinking about the kind of education I had and the kind of education I would like for my children to have. If the public schools in DC were stronger on the middle and high school levels, I would fully support them. Currently, my child is in public. However, I do think I will have to make a decision about private soon. This thread and the other thread on HHI is somewhat depressing as we really would struggle to afford a private school education in DC.

In answer to your 1st para, there are some good charters that parents seem happy with. Not all charters are financially unsustainable, or cut corners on programming. With some research, and luck, you have a reasonable chance of getting your kid into a good, financially sustainable charter.

Re your 2nd para, maybe you need to ask yourself why you think charters promote inequality but private schools don't. Or why it's OK to take resources out of the system to send your kid to private school but not to charters. These moral objections don't seem consistent.

In other words, maybe give the charter idea a second look. No private school is going to give you (or me) much or any FA. It may seem like it stinks that only the very rich, and those poor enough to get FA, can do private school. But these are the facts. If you see the kids of govt workers at top privates, odds are they have family help or family money. We moved to MoCo. In fact, we're very happy with our choice: we're not spending every penny on that top 3 DC1 got into and worrying about treating DC2 equally. And as DC1 approaches college, we're increasingly happy we were able to save. Trust me, college comes sooner than you think, your kid can do great in a good public school, and you'll be glad you have college savings to reward DC's hard work by supporting her at a good college.

[Anonymous]

There was a forum topic not too long ago that asked whether to just send some children but not all to private. The majority of postings said this would be a bad idea unless absolutely warranted. Near us in NOVA there are some privates that run closer to $15,000 for the year and then parochial schools at about $6000 so there are some choices in a middle range. We chose a school within our means so as to not add money stress on top of everything else.