If you are upper middle class parent, tell me why you sent your kid(s) to private schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We can afford it.
We’ve lived abroad and a teacher told my child that they were making up stories when describing all the places we’d visited over the years.
Long-term sub was a school secretary and recommended that my child be put in a lower-level class. “A” student, no issues ever raised with me.
Administration was indifferent when my child’s clothes were stolen from a playground pile.
Administration and teachers were busy snapping shots for Instagram rather than teaching.
Junie B Jones recommended for my child when they were already reading at a 7th-grade level.
Overcrowded schools, overwhelmed teachers, not enough TAs, too many high-needs students, no more tracking
Lowest common denominator around here now, which is very sad

Confused. Did these things happen at your public or your private?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Smaller class sizes; more flexibility to adjust academically to meet kids’ needs.

I went to public schools through hs, my spouse went to private school - we met in college (an ivy). We strongly believe it is possible to get an excellent education at both public and private schools. But we chose (different) private schools for our kids for next year. it’s the right choice for our kids at this time.

Politically correct b.s. You don't actually believe this and that's why you didn't risk it for your own kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC Public High Schools are horrible with the exception of Wilson.

All the pro public school parents, put your money where your mouth is and try any of the public high schools in DC with the exception of Wilson for your kids.

Wilson is ridiculously overcrowded and mediocre. The nail on their coffin was the “honors for all” program.

But a couple of seniors (out of 500+) get into Ivies every year! Haha.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We chose private because (1) I don't want my kids to have to compete at a school as big as Wilson with lots of great students, and (2) given the utter lack of reasonable gun safety measures in this country, I want my kids in a school where disturbed kids get counseled out.

So you’re for discriminating against kids who are different than you? And you don’t really believe in meritocracy because you want to limit the pool of students you’re kid has to compete with daily. So essentially you for aiding your kid to live in the world of make believe instead of the real world?

I wonder what the world would be like if all schools “counseled out” those “disturbed kids” or ones they didn’t like?

I’m not sure why you’re surprised- discrimination against some group or another is the cornerstone of private schools. Lots of schools & families like to sugarcoat it, but ultimately discrimination is a key building block of what makes a private school. All the token attempts at “equity” and FA are really just window dressing.

By that logic anything that is fee based is discriminatory.

It also completely ignores the fact that the “best” public schools are in incredibly wealthy zip codes. That’s it’s own form of discrimination.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
By that logic anything that is fee based is discriminatory.

It also completely ignores the fact that the “best” public schools are in incredibly wealthy zip codes. That’s it’s own form of discrimination.

Or, wait for it, everyone in those wealthy zip codes is serious about education, and kids do better when surrounded by others serious by education. Private allows one to select those traits even more specifically.

There’s no reason everyone couldn’t be that way. They just prioritize differently. (And before someone trots out the single mom working multiple jobs story, some of the most serious people I know about education are in that boat. They drove home the importance of taking it seriously. And some of those folks even wind up at private schools, on aid, because they had the drive to improve and spent effort to make it happen.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Smaller class sizes; more flexibility to adjust academically to meet kids’ needs.

I went to public schools through hs, my spouse went to private school - we met in college (an ivy). We strongly believe it is possible to get an excellent education at both public and private schools. But we chose (different) private schools for our kids for next year. it’s the right choice for our kids at this time.

Politically correct b.s. You don't actually believe this and that's why you didn't risk it for your own kids.

+1. I make comforting noises like this too when asked, but it’s all fake. My little snowflakes CAN survive without small class sizes. Fact of the matter is, I can afford it and I don’t want to deal with the hassles of public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We can afford it.
We’ve lived abroad and a teacher told my child that they were making up stories when describing all the places we’d visited over the years.
Long-term sub was a school secretary and recommended that my child be put in a lower-level class. “A” student, no issues ever raised with me.
Administration was indifferent when my child’s clothes were stolen from a playground pile.
Administration and teachers were busy snapping shots for Instagram rather than teaching.
Junie B Jones recommended for my child when they were already reading at a 7th-grade level.
Overcrowded schools, overwhelmed teachers, not enough TAs, too many high-needs students, no more tracking
Lowest common denominator around here now, which is very sad

Confused. Did these things happen at your public or your private?

Public!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC Public High Schools are horrible with the exception of Wilson.

All the pro public school parents, put your money where your mouth is and try any of the public high schools in DC with the exception of Wilson for your kids.

Wilson is ridiculously overcrowded and mediocre. The nail on their coffin was the “honors for all” program.

But a couple of seniors (out of 500+) get into Ivies every year! Haha.

All with some hook, esp. activist legacies

[Anonymous]

Wait… private school parents are ragging on legacy admissions from public grads?

The irony is too much.

[Anonymous]

Please return to the other fora covering publics. If the OP’s question doesn’t pertain to you, why are you here? Many thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please return to the other fora covering publics. If the OP’s question doesn’t pertain to you, why are you here? Many thanks.

Exactly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please return to the other fora covering publics. If the OP’s question doesn’t pertain to you, why are you here? Many thanks.

“Everyone I disagree with is a jealous public school parent” is an incorrect worldview. But dealing with private school parents on a daily basis, I’d expect nothing less.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wait… private school parents are ragging on legacy admissions from public grads?

The irony is too much.

More like, public school parents love dishing out the legacy card with private school admits, but can't seem to take it when the shoe is on the other foot...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We can afford it.
We’ve lived abroad and a teacher told my child that they were making up stories when describing all the places we’d visited over the years.
Long-term sub was a school secretary and recommended that my child be put in a lower-level class. “A” student, no issues ever raised with me.
Administration was indifferent when my child’s clothes were stolen from a playground pile.
Administration and teachers were busy snapping shots for Instagram rather than teaching.
Junie B Jones recommended for my child when they were already reading at a 7th-grade level.
Overcrowded schools, overwhelmed teachers, not enough TAs, too many high-needs students, no more tracking
Lowest common denominator around here now, which is very sad

Confused. Did these things happen at your public or your private?

So you bought a house in a poor neighborhood. Got it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Smaller class sizes; more flexibility to adjust academically to meet kids’ needs.

I went to public schools through hs, my spouse went to private school - we met in college (an ivy). We strongly believe it is possible to get an excellent education at both public and private schools. But we chose (different) private schools for our kids for next year. it’s the right choice for our kids at this time.

Politically correct b.s. You don't actually believe this and that's why you didn't risk it for your own kids.

+1. I make comforting noises like this too when asked, but it’s all fake. My little snowflakes CAN survive without small class sizes. Fact of the matter is, I can afford it and I don’t want to deal with the hassles of public.

I hesitate to engage with this, but yes, I do believe what I’ve said, and I happen to believe it’s true that it’s possible to get a good education in both public and private. Frankly it’s up to the individual kid. The reality is that money cannot buy a motivated, intellectually curious child. (Not can money cannot buy a kind child who will grow up to be a good human being.)

But yes, money can buy freedom from some degree of “hassle,” smaller class sizes, etc. My kids were in public for elementary, and had a generally good experience. But yes, there are hassles relating to public school these days, and we wanted the smaller class sizes, so have decided to go private for now. I just think it’s ridiculous that people have to fall back on snobbishness to feel better about spending money on private education. It’s great if you can pay for it, but no one should be fooling themselves that they can buy their child’s future success or admission into a top college just by paying for private school (unless you are SO wealthy that you can donate Kushner-level amounts of money to