DC privates educating suburban kids

[Anonymous]

Wow, most of the DC families I know at the private schools are among the wealthiest 99th percentile in the US. Some of the stereotypes cast in this forum are simply outrageous.

[Anonymous]

Some of the stereotypes cast in this forum are simply outrageous.

There were a lot of stereotypes being thrown about--could you be more specific?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, most of the DC families I know at the private schools are among the wealthiest 99th percentile in the US. Some of the stereotypes cast in this forum are simply outrageous.

To be in the 99th percentile of incomes if I am not mistaken you need have "only" more than about $275K gross annual household income -- that's a lot of cash, but many, many families earn that and more in the DC are and still find it hard to afford to send kids to private school.

If you make about $250K, you're left on average with about 150-170K after federal, state, local taxes and ss/medic contributions. Less after putting away for retirement. To put two kids into priate school, means at least 60K down. Things add up, and suddenly those at the "bottom of the top 1 percentile" find themselves struggling to put two kids into private school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm 15:13 -- I live in the heart of DC pp. I get the gyst of the thread. I just think it's senseless because no one is going to change anyone's mind.

That has never been an impediment on DCUM. I think we should start a poll - All-Time Dumbest Thread About Nothing. I'd vote for this thread for #1.

[Anonymous]

PP: You are a little off. The top 1% in income has to have $410,00 in annual income.

http://www.ntu.org/tax-basics/who-pays-income-taxes.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP: You are a little off. The top 1% in income has to have $410,00 in annual income.

http://www.ntu.org/tax-basics/who-pays-income-taxes.html

And that's from 2007 so the amount is probably more now.

[Anonymous]

Yawn.

[Anonymous]

A lot of you DC residents sure feel entitled. It's not the suburban families problem that your local publics aren't up to standard. The schools were not founded to service the public at large and it is in their best interest to admit children they feel are best for the school regardless of their zipcode.

If these schools were receiving public funds it would be another matter...but they are not....they are private, NOT PUBLIC schools.

There isn't any reason that DC residents should feel like these schools are their for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of you DC residents sure feel entitled. It's not the suburban families problem that your local publics aren't up to standard. The schools were not founded to service the public at large and it is in their best interest to admit children they feel are best for the school regardless of their zipcode.

If these schools were receiving public funds it would be another matter...but they are not....they are private, NOT PUBLIC schools.

There isn't any reason that DC residents should feel like these schools are their for them.

you just dont get it do you? These schools are receiving public funds in an indirect way by being tax exempt. Lose the tax exempt status and educate whomever you want, that is all we are saying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If these schools were receiving public funds it would be another matter...but they are not....they are private, NOT PUBLIC schools. There isn't any reason that DC residents should feel like these schools are their for them.

you just dont get it do you? These schools are receiving public funds in an indirect way by being tax exempt. Lose the tax exempt status and educate whomever you want, that is all we are saying.

I don't think YOU get it. The reason they receive tax-exempt status is because they are educational facilities, not because of their geography. Other tax-exempt entities have no geography requirement, so why should schools?

[Anonymous]

Private schools are bastions of privilege, and while I might not be thrilled with the fact that we still have people surfing on the luck of birth, I would never expect schools to reserve places for the poor little rich children in DC because they couldn't possibly attend school with all those OTHER children who aren't nearly so special.

This is what I find grossly unfair: Suburban families claiming to live with Great Aunt Bertha so their children can attend Ellington for free. Have seen the same thing in other cities too, especially with academic magnets. Or TJ, where people from around the world rent townhouses to send their kids to school here. This is questionably fair to the locals who support the schools.

Private schools, whether or not I like the "to the manor born" exclusivity, do not owe entitled megalomaniacs anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I know this topic has been brought up before, but this is just one thing that continues to irk me. Don’t DC privates have some responsibility to the city and its residents especially since most (if not all) are tax exempt entities. I remember Anthony Williams wasn’t too happy about this, and now I can totally see his point. Why isn’t there a tier system that will allow for qualified city children to get in first before taking in suburban kids (I’d feel better about this if we had a commuter tax but that is a different issue all together). This about scarce resources being given to people who don’t even live here. Don’t get me wrong, most of the kids and families are great but I’m tired of seeing qualified DC children losing out on their first or second choice schools that seem to be filled with suburban kids that come from areas with already good public schools. That’s not fair.

Is this rant due to the fact that your child wasn't admitted?

Perhaps there were more qualified applicants from the burbs?

[Anonymous]

I hope you realize that your racist side is showing through.

Our cul-de-sac lifestyles are not the cause of huffing; your parenting style, however, is.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:D.C. has high crime, poor public schools and constant traffic congestion. While it has some nice museums, I wouldn't want to raise my precious children there.

I guess we suburbanites are in an enviable position, aren't we? We have great public schools, yet we keep on snapping up your private school spots too. I can see that you're bitter, but you really should get over it. Go do yoga or something...

I always find these sorts of posts entertaining. It's like folks are still stuck in 1985. Crime is at a 50 year low, and rarely touches middle-class residents; in fact, my relatives in Montgomery County seem to fear crime as much or more than my neighbors on Capitol Hill. I wouldn't know about "traffic congestion", since the only time I experience it is on one of my occasional trips out to the suburbs. I guess that would be of particular concern to you, as a suburbanite, since all those folks stuck in the gridlock have MD and DC license plates. In contrast, my commute consists of a 15 minute bike ride to work. Either that or a 20 min bus ride--door to door.

And as far as public schools go, having grown up in Montgomery County, and with relatives who still live there, I've seen what the growth of suburban poverty has done to MCPS. I think it's great that you've obviously found one of the good public school options--for the time being. But with big state budget cuts, and the well-documented demographic shift that's been taking place and acellerating, make no mistake, the suburbs are on the way down. Hold on to those private school spots--you're going to need them!

Bottom line: I don't want my kid growing up in a cul-de-sac, their sole intellectual stimulation huffing glue out behind the 7-11.

[Anonymous]

Well as a resident of DC I want my city to rescind tax exempt status in schools that benefit suburbanites instead of city residents. DC taxpayers should not be subsidizing your child's education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well as a resident of DC I want my city to rescind tax exempt status in schools that benefit suburbanites instead of city residents. DC taxpayers should not be subsidizing your child's education.

Then you should not be living in a federal system.