I don't understand why parents waste so much money on private schools in this area.

[Anonymous]

Would the money have been enough to pay the yearly salary of the 2019 teacher count level, doubling it so that all the person class could be cut to 15 so allowing for social distancing in the classroom. Would it have funded extending the school day to 5 since there wouldn’t be enough rooms to double classes otherwise? Would the money have paid for Enough PPE and HVAC renovation.

I doubt it, so giving teachers hazard money for working in biological hazard areas was just the minimum expectation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really don't think public school parents understand just how much better private is for kids. It's so much more than college matriculation. You think the public and private school kids really have the same level of education going into college? Having a public and private student score the same on the SAT does not mean they had remotely the same educational experience. LOL that OP thinks that.

The resources, the opportunities, the attention to detail, the level of teaching, the other students, the buildings, the land, the field trips, the plays, the public speaking....

I will add that not all privates are created equal, however +1000 to all the above. You really can't make a public parent understand the subtle and meaningful differences between learning environments.

Okay, I'll bite. I think you are right, that (at least when we are talking about a good private experience), the smaller classes, and field trips, the flexibility make the educational experience better than the typical public for most kids. BUT that applies only as long as you limit your inquiry to instruction hours. Public school is better (again, generally) at teaching kids that they have to get along with all sorts, that the kid wearing the same shorts 4 days in a row because his family doesn't have laundry in their house is just as funny and worthwhile as the kid wearing crew cuts (or whatever) every day. Some of my best friends are still to this day the friends I made in my private elementary, but one of the most important, and under developed skills I see in the professional world and in life is an ability to talk to and work with people in a different socioeconomic class than you, and how to relate to people who are not uber-privileged. You learn different things at different schools, and I really don't think you can say one way is better than the other overall--it really depends on your kid and what you need to support.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really don't think public school parents understand just how much better private is for kids. It's so much more than college matriculation. You think the public and private school kids really have the same level of education going into college? Having a public and private student score the same on the SAT does not mean they had remotely the same educational experience. LOL that OP thinks that.

The resources, the opportunities, the attention to detail, the level of teaching, the other students, the buildings, the land, the field trips, the plays, the public speaking....

I will add that not all privates are created equal, however +1000 to all the above. You really can't make a public parent understand the subtle and meaningful differences between learning environments.

Okay, I'll bite. I think you are right, that (at least when we are talking about a good private experience), the smaller classes, and field trips, the flexibility make the educational experience better than the typical public for most kids. BUT that applies only as long as you limit your inquiry to instruction hours. Public school is better (again, generally) at teaching kids that they have to get along with all sorts, that the kid wearing the same shorts 4 days in a row because his family doesn't have laundry in their house is just as funny and worthwhile as the kid wearing crew cuts (or whatever) every day. Some of my best friends are still to this day the friends I made in my private elementary, but one of the most important, and under developed skills I see in the professional world and in life is an ability to talk to and work with people in a different socioeconomic class than you, and how to relate to people who are not uber-privileged. You learn different things at different schools, and I really don't think you can say one way is better than the other overall--it really depends on your kid and what you need to support.

PP here--one other thing. In my own experience, I would say there is a greater delta between the great teachers and the blah teachers in private. You get fewer 30 year teachers who are tired of running the same curriculum and are waiting to retire, sure. And you get some really amazing teachers too. But because they are less likely to require standardized credentials, and generally pay less, you get some real duds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really don't think public school parents understand just how much better private is for kids. It's so much more than college matriculation. You think the public and private school kids really have the same level of education going into college? Having a public and private student score the same on the SAT does not mean they had remotely the same educational experience. LOL that OP thinks that.

The resources, the opportunities, the attention to detail, the level of teaching, the other students, the buildings, the land, the field trips, the plays, the public speaking....

I will add that not all privates are created equal, however +1000 to all the above. You really can't make a public parent understand the subtle and meaningful differences between learning environments.

Okay, I'll bite. I think you are right, that (at least when we are talking about a good private experience), the smaller classes, and field trips, the flexibility make the educational experience better than the typical public for most kids. BUT that applies only as long as you limit your inquiry to instruction hours. Public school is better (again, generally) at teaching kids that they have to get along with all sorts, that the kid wearing the same shorts 4 days in a row because his family doesn't have laundry in their house is just as funny and worthwhile as the kid wearing crew cuts (or whatever) every day. Some of my best friends are still to this day the friends I made in my private elementary, but one of the most important, and under developed skills I see in the professional world and in life is an ability to talk to and work with people in a different socioeconomic class than you, and how to relate to people who are not uber-privileged. You learn different things at different schools, and I really don't think you can say one way is better than the other overall--it really depends on your kid and what you need to support.

PP here--one other thing. In my own experience, I would say there is a greater delta between the great teachers and the blah teachers in private. You get fewer 30 year teachers who are tired of running the same curriculum and are waiting to retire, sure. And you get some really amazing teachers too. But because they are less likely to require standardized credentials, and generally pay less, you get some real duds.

This is such an incorrect stereotype of private school teachers. A quality private school is not hiring a “dud.” They want teachers that can relate to the kids and families. You will find a lot of teachers with multiple degrees that often went to private school growing up or send their kids to private school now. For my youngest kids school, there is not a single home room teacher that doesn’t fall into one of these categories.

[Anonymous]

Right now I pay for private because my kids have been in school, on campus, for two solid years. They aren't 'behind' and playing the catch up game.

We moved to private because we wanted schools that could be less focused on testing and more focused on teaching. Once the pandemic hit, we realized how lucky we were to be in private school.

[Anonymous]

Happy with our private. It's academically rigorous and a good bunch of kids and parents.

Look no further than the lunatics at the school board meetings threatening district officials; who are trying to get books banned at the library; who object to teaching a factual history of the civil war or civil rights movement as reasons I would not go anywhere near a public school these days.

[Anonymous]

I have discussed this with several pubic school parents before giving up. The OP is correct. They will never understand. It's pointless to try to explain it to them.

[Anonymous]

The quality of life is just better at the privates, if you can afford it. It was a sacrifice for us, but well worth it to DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Happy with our private. It's academically rigorous and a good bunch of kids and parents.

Look no further than the lunatics at the school board meetings threatening district officials; who are trying to get books banned at the library; who object to teaching a factual history of the civil war or civil rights movement as reasons I would not go anywhere near a public school these days.

It is clear that you are unfamiliar with history classes in the United States. For the last two decades, American history has already been taught as a series of episodes consisting of: "first encounters between ethnic groups," the role of women and minorities during the Revolutionary War; a brief debate on whether the Founders were racist, the Market Revolution and oppression of Native Americans, the "Reform Period" with a focus on all of the social ills of antebellum America, the oppression of African Americans through the antebellum period, the Civil War, Reconstruction and Jim Crow, the oppression of Mexicans during the Mexican American War, the oppression of women in general, and then government intervention during the Progressive Period, the New Deal, oppression of Asians during the Gold Rush and WWII, the role of women and minorities in WWII, the Civil Rights movement and the Cold War.

There were no protests for years despite the strongly negative framing of U.S. history.

Parents now are NOT objecting to factual teaching of difficult truths (although as an AP teacher, I think the narrative is seriously flawed). They are objecting to political advocacy for reparations and other racist narratives about white supremacy.

[Anonymous]

The main objection it seems these parents have is a historical and socio-cultural narrative that is centred around any perspective other than that of white conservative christians.

Take a look at some of the titles that the current book burners are so anxious to excluded. There are huge, sprawling right-wing organizations with this as their singular focus.

Look at the lists of words that are soon to be excluded from classrooms. In some republican states in the south, teachers aren't allowed to speak positively about diversity or the important of inclusion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Happy with our private. It's academically rigorous and a good bunch of kids and parents.

Look no further than the lunatics at the school board meetings threatening district officials; who are trying to get books banned at the library; who object to teaching a factual history of the civil war or civil rights movement as reasons I would not go anywhere near a public school these days.

It is clear that you are unfamiliar with history classes in the United States. For the last two decades, American history has already been taught as a series of episodes consisting of: "first encounters between ethnic groups," the role of women and minorities during the Revolutionary War; a brief debate on whether the Founders were racist, the Market Revolution and oppression of Native Americans, the "Reform Period" with a focus on all of the social ills of antebellum America, the oppression of African Americans through the antebellum period, the Civil War, Reconstruction and Jim Crow, the oppression of Mexicans during the Mexican American War, the oppression of women in general, and then government intervention during the Progressive Period, the New Deal, oppression of Asians during the Gold Rush and WWII, the role of women and minorities in WWII, the Civil Rights movement and the Cold War.

There were no protests for years despite the strongly negative framing of U.S. history.

Parents now are NOT objecting to factual teaching of difficult truths (although as an AP teacher, I think the narrative is seriously flawed). They are objecting to political advocacy for reparations and other racist narratives about white supremacy.

It seems that these parents have no issues whatsoever when the political advocacy is from right-wingers. The objection that these screaming parents have isn't really to political views, it's to the notion that there are views out there other than there own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I suggest OP go tour a couple of private schools during this falls admission process. The tours are quite eye opening and I promise you won’t be asking this question.

OP here, shrug. Having come from the bay area, I had always assumed how well a school did was just purely a function of how many hard working asian kids good at self learning were in any particular school. The whole game is just a filtering tournament anyhow and teachers don't really add huge value. You either have self motivated smart kids or you don't. So as a venture capitalist by training, the ROI for private seems pretty poor and silly intangibles I see being justified by parents on this board are borderline ridiculous. The real KPI is Asian enrollment pre-K numbers. Montgomery county has a bunch of older Asian parents due to Rockville and Bethesda being the good school districts in the 90s haydays. Today, most younger Asian parents are in NoVA. I'd take Haycock over Sidwell or St Albans in 5-10 years.

Lol this is the correct answer for sure. Find the most Asian and Indian students and you find the more academically rigorous school (TJ).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really don't think public school parents understand just how much better private is for kids. It's so much more than college matriculation. You think the public and private school kids really have the same level of education going into college? Having a public and private student score the same on the SAT does not mean they had remotely the same educational experience. LOL that OP thinks that.

The resources, the opportunities, the attention to detail, the level of teaching, the other students, the buildings, the land, the field trips, the plays, the public speaking....

I will add that not all privates are created equal, however +1000 to all the above. You really can't make a public parent understand the subtle and meaningful differences between learning environments.

Okay, I'll bite. I think you are right, that (at least when we are talking about a good private experience), the smaller classes, and field trips, the flexibility make the educational experience better than the typical public for most kids. BUT that applies only as long as you limit your inquiry to instruction hours. Public school is better (again, generally) at teaching kids that they have to get along with all sorts, that the kid wearing the same shorts 4 days in a row because his family doesn't have laundry in their house is just as funny and worthwhile as the kid wearing crew cuts (or whatever) every day. Some of my best friends are still to this day the friends I made in my private elementary, but one of the most important, and under developed skills I see in the professional world and in life is an ability to talk to and work with people in a different socioeconomic class than you, and how to relate to people who are not uber-privileged. You learn different things at different schools, and I really don't think you can say one way is better than the other overall--it really depends on your kid and what you need to support.

We moved our kid from a public title 1 school to a small k-8 this year. The old school was very diverse, and sure he learned to get along with and work with all types of kids, but over several years, despite trying, we found it difficult to carry any of those interactions outside of school to become deeper friendships. His school friends' parents were working on the weekends, or didn't speak English, or just were uncomfortable/too busy for playdates. There were also kids in class with severe behavior problems. I guess you could call that a "learning experience," but we didn't want him picking up those behaviors. The new school has its issues, too, but they seem to be more of the bratty, entitled type. So I guess you have to pick your poison.

[Anonymous]

Our kids are in school from pre-K to a bachelors for 18 years. So many schools offer a solid academic education in our area. So for me it is about experience on top of stellar academics. It’s about community, relationships, character development, confidence, critical thinking, leadership opportunities, friendships, teams, music, arts, and so much more. It’s turning your child into the person they become. Obviously parenting and family are a critical component of that but don’t underestimate a school’s influence. Pick what works for you, your ethics and lifestyle, your family, your wallet and be happy and stop judging others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really don't think public school parents understand just how much better private is for kids. It's so much more than college matriculation. You think the public and private school kids really have the same level of education going into college? Having a public and private student score the same on the SAT does not mean they had remotely the same educational experience. LOL that OP thinks that.

The resources, the opportunities, the attention to detail, the level of teaching, the other students, the buildings, the land, the field trips, the plays, the public speaking....

I will add that not all privates are created equal, however +1000 to all the above. You really can't make a public parent understand the subtle and meaningful differences between learning environments.

Okay, I'll bite. I think you are right, that (at least when we are talking about a good private experience), the smaller classes, and field trips, the flexibility make the educational experience better than the typical public for most kids. BUT that applies only as long as you limit your inquiry to instruction hours. Public school is better (again, generally) at teaching kids that they have to get along with all sorts, that the kid wearing the same shorts 4 days in a row because his family doesn't have laundry in their house is just as funny and worthwhile as the kid wearing crew cuts (or whatever) every day. Some of my best friends are still to this day the friends I made in my private elementary, but one of the most important, and under developed skills I see in the professional world and in life is an ability to talk to and work with people in a different socioeconomic class than you, and how to relate to people who are not uber-privileged. You learn different things at different schools, and I really don't think you can say one way is better than the other overall--it really depends on your kid and what you need to support.

We moved our kid from a public title 1 school to a small k-8 this year. The old school was very diverse, and sure he learned to get along with and work with all types of kids, but over several years, despite trying, we found it difficult to carry any of those interactions outside of school to become deeper friendships. His school friends' parents were working on the weekends, or didn't speak English, or just were uncomfortable/too busy for playdates. There were also kids in class with severe behavior problems. I guess you could call that a "learning experience," but we didn't want him picking up those behaviors. The new school has its issues, too, but they seem to be more of the bratty, entitled type. So I guess you have to pick your poison.

This describes us too. I am uncomfortable with how white and rich DD's private school is, but it's not much different from her public school Girl Scout troop. Her classroom diversity didn't translate (and we did try).

Also, DD's private school talks the talk as far as diversity and inclusion -- nobody is arguing against it, ahem public schools. Talk is isn't the same as action but it's one step closer.