Feeling Stretched With Public and Private Schools

[Anonymous]

I agree w the others--$300k a year is a lot, even for this area. How much is your monthly student loan payment?

You have an infant. So you have 4 years to save for a house. Start figuring out a plan now for getting the down payment you need and/or aggressively pay down student debt. If you are making that much money, you should be able to pay off more each month.

[Anonymous]

I would buy a house in MoCo that is affordable enough that you can send your child to private if you need to. That's our approach. Our modest home is almost paid off, our daughter attends a 20K private, and in less than a couple of years the house will be paid off (did a 15 year mortgage), and we'll put that money towards saving for college.

[Anonymous]

How much is your debt? How much do you have to pay every month? What are you paying right now for housing and daycare?

With 300K in income, you have options that most people don't, even with student debt. You are not "broke and powerless."

I think you're making too strong of a dichotomy between possible options: prestigious areas vs. developing areas, "higher echelon of society" vs....what? There are many, many of us who live in the middle ground, and it's not a bad thing!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You may want to rent in DC while your children are eligible for free PS and PK (for 3 and 4 year olds).

This is brilliant! Please consider this--both of our kids have gone through our neighborhood DCPS PS and PK programs and we liked it so much we've stayed put at the school-- and in the city! eldest is now in 4th grade. The neighborhood was cheap to buy into compared to Upper NW 8 years ago, but now is just as expensive as upper NW-- and shorter commute, etc. for your situation, Brookland makes a lot of sense for buying and SW for renting.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like one or both of you have professional careers. I'll bet that if you ask some of your peers at work, or better yet, ask someone at work who is above you in the management chain, if they'd give you some good practical advice on both public and private schools. People love to talk about their kids, and business-people are goal-oriented and some are even highly keen on spending their money only on "good value" services, so why not give them an opportunity to tell you what they have learned over the years about public and private schools, as well as long-term college plans in the DMV? It can be a very englightening discussion.

[Anonymous]

I would buy in a good school district. Even if you decide to go private, the competition is fierce and you may not have as many choices as you think. And there's something wonderful about having your child go to school with kids in her neighborhood. You can always opt for private later on. That is what we did; our kids went to a good DCPS (one of the Ward 3 ones), and then went private for middle and high school, since we weren't thriled with middle and high school options (although lots osf people seem to like Deal). With the charter lottery, you aren't guaranteed a slot in a good school, and investing in a house with the hope that the local school might improve seems risky to me.

[Anonymous]

All I can say to the OP is that these are challenges every parent in this area faces, and a very high proportion of them do it on a much smaller income than theirs. Even with hefty student loan debt, you can buy a lot of house in MoCo where I live if you have a salary like that. We feel very well off in our immediate area at less than 250K and are happy with our schools. It's really not so bad. And things weren't simpler when you were a child. Your parents moved somewhere and you went to the local school. You can do the same thing now.

[Anonymous]

I think there is a big diffrence between public and private in elementary school and its in these areas: class size (many of the best publics have high student/teacher ratios); amount of art, music, and science; and differentiation within a grade.

I think those areas are all criucial to young learners. Yes, you can supplement the art, music and Science, and even many private school parents do but, there is nothing you can do about large class populations. This leads me to believe it is better to buy a smaller, more affordable house and send your child to private school.

[Anonymous]

We have always bought in neighborhoods that we liked -- when our kids were infants that was Foxhall Village (awesome!) and then Capitol Hill. Now we are in the suburbs but with the kids in private school. Life changed a lot between the time our kids were infants and now (our oldest is 14). I don't think you can ever predict how things will change but it is really nice to be surrounded by neighbors you like and a house you can afford.

[Anonymous]

"Broke and powerless" on 300K/yr?

SMH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Broke and powerless" on 300K/yr?

SMH.

Student loan debt is 250k. Monthly payments are 2500. Can't get into daycare, so the potential nanny will cost around 2300 each month. Maybe broke and powerless was a bit much. But the fact remains that me have lots of expenses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Broke and powerless" on 300K/yr?

SMH.

Student loan debt is 250k. Monthly payments are 2500. Can't get into daycare, so the potential nanny will cost around 2300 each month. Maybe broke and powerless was a bit much. But the fact remains that me have lots of expenses.

Lots of people have lots of expenses. I also find it hard to believe that your only day care option is $2300/month. Look into home day cares or do a nanny share. And as you said yourself, you can rent, you simply choose not to do so.

People who are "powerless" do not have options. You have plenty of options. Just because the options are ones you don't prefer, doesn't mean you are in some kind of dire situation. 1 in 5 people in DC live in poverty, OP-- REAL poverty, not the $300K/yr kind.

You're struggling with school choices and I get that. We ( renters, BTW) are faced with the same decisions as our daughter turns 3 this year. It's certainly a legitimate question to raise, but your "poor me, poor lil ol' me" attitude is really offensive.

[Anonymous]

So no car payment? You should be able to find other childcare options. Rent, you will be hsppy with the flexibility.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, OP, not to pile on, but your post smacks of "why can't I have everything that I want, right now?!?!" You have apparently decided that home ownership is the MOST important thing - not the school system you are in, not having enough to pay for privates, not paying down debt. That's fine - your choice - but don't pretend this is some sort of tragedy that happened to you. You make a lot of money, even including the student loan payments. The reason you'll be stretched is because you insist on buying a house when you still have that debt.

[Anonymous]

I'd also like to reply to the OP regarding this quote: "my lack of inclusion in the higher echelon of society effects my daughter's opportunities." You say that you and your husband come from working class families and so you don't know how to navigate the system. You may find some comfort (or not) in the fact that there is really no system. Some people with money have financial planners who help them figure out how to invest, pay down debt, etc., but there are no secrets out there to how to live well in Washington that the upper class shares among themselves. There are great public schools all over the place -- NW DC, Montgomery County, Fairfax County, etc. -- or you can live wherever you want and spend a couple thousand a month for private school (remember, by then you won't be paying a nanny anymore). School districts put an astonishing amount of data online about test scores, class sizes, etc. so all that information is available. It's true that your student loan debt is quite large, but it sounds like the salaries you have been able to earn with those degrees are worth it.