Will DeVos' confirmation as Sec of Education increase applications to the top private schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe, but if you think you will get it paid for by taxpayers, think again.

Who is expecting to get anything paid for by taxpayers? We can afford to send DC to a $40K private. I am simply asking is if there will be a larger pool of applicants now that some students will have vouchers (and conceivably able to afford private school).

We are big fans of public schools but might rethink our position depending on how this plays out. We can afford to go private.

We're in a similar position--we like our neighborhood public, where our kid is in early elementary. However, we're thinking about the long game (and what setting will best serve our kid in the future), so we applied to private next year. Also concerned about DeVos (we're in DC, where perhaps federal education policy could have more influence?). Getting accepted at one of our top choices would be bittersweet--there are lots of good folks, including friends, working on the neighborhood school, and we'd feel somewhat like we're leaving them adrift in the life raft if we jump aboard the private school boat now..

[Anonymous]

Vouchers will drive the cost of privates up like Federal Student Loans have driven up the cost of college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is hard to say what she will or won't do because so far it doesn't appear that she has a clue what the job is. The biggest fall out will occur if she acts like Trump and just starts spouting policy and issuing regulations without process or thought. That could have immediate and serious repercussions that will have wealthy families fleeing the public system. But it really depends on what she actually does. Kids with special needs who don't have money for private services are in the most danger from her ignorance.

Certainly if she decides guns are allowed in public schools (and DC is not allowed by Congress to legislate that locally), then yes, you will see a TON of applications to private, and a huge increase in private tuition. And the thousands who don't get spots will move. Segregation in DC will become worse than it already is. The DC economy will tank. Crime will increase. Corruption in local government will increase. Private schools in DC will need heightened security and will start losing students to suburban private schools.

But maybe no one will notice.

Why do you think this? The DC economy has been strong for some time. It has one of the strongest property tax bases with plenty of strong middle, upper and wealthy tax payers. They also generate a lot of revenue from parking enforcement of all things. I read once that in and of itself generates millions per month. The budget has been balanced since Anthony Williams has been Mayor. Almost every public school will or has been renovated. On what are you basing these predictions? I doubt you live in DC. /s/ Longtime District resident and parent of public and private school students.

So how do you account for the schools with bed bugs and rodent problems? Let's not get hasty here - DC may be better than it was pre-Anthony Williams but it is far from a strong economy for all. People seem to forget that Ward 8 is a part of D.C.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They will just raise tuition. Applications will stay the same. When the voucher program goes away, the schools will not decrease rates again and it's a win for them.

How do you know this? Private schools love to increase the number of their applications. Doing what you suggest would seem to fly in the face4 of that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. None of the private schools in the top or middle tier are going to take these vouchers. #BelieveMe

Bullshit. It immediately stretches their financial aid. Even if an elite private only has a dozen low income kids, those kids are going to receive voucher checks for $1X,000 each. Solid $120,000-plus in free cash.

This is my thought too. If a school has a million dollars to award out in FA and some of their students now get vouchers and they don't have to dip in that pot to give those students money. I would think that means their million dollar financial aid budget can be used to offer some aid to middle class families who would not ordinarily qualify.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What if any effect do you all think it will have on the number of applications to private school? My DD is currently in public and the plan was to stay there though 8th grade and then apply to private school. Debating if we should jump for middle before whatever the fall out will be from DeVos' taking over the Dept of Education.

How much is DeVos's voucher supposed to be? It is a nation-wide fixed amount check or does it depend on what your home district receives if your child were a student there?

I don't think anyone knows. I don't think DeVos' knows. She has this pie in the sky theories about education and has no clue what it is going to take to pull any of it off. I wouldn't hold my breath for any vouchers any time soon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. None of the private schools in the top or middle tier are going to take these vouchers. #BelieveMe

Bullshit. It immediately stretches their financial aid. Even if an elite private only has a dozen low income kids, those kids are going to receive voucher checks for $1X,000 each. Solid $120,000-plus in free cash.

+1

#MakeSidwell/GDS/Cathedral Schools even richer than they are now.

[Anonymous]

Let me get this straight -- the OP seems to believe that the incoming Secretary of Education (she's still incoming until she's been sworn in) will somehow enact a school choice and voucher program that will immediately have impact at the state and local levels, and will have an immediate impact on private school tuition levels.

I'm just going to let that sink in for a moment.

In the meantime, let's consider this. The American institution that is public education is big. How big? Public schools employed over 3 million teachers in 2016. For comparison, the world's largest employer, Wal-Mart, employs 1.4 million people. The active duty U.S. military clocks in at 1.3 million.

What are the odds that Betsy De Vos, much less any other education activist, can have a lasting impact on public education given the size of the bureaucracy? Heck, the Department of Education reported just last month that the Obama Administration's effort to improve America's worst schools with an injection of $7 billion in federal cash had no effect.

So, back to OP's question. No. There is no chance her confirmation will directly increase private school tuition in either the greater Washington, DC area or anywhere else in the country. You can stop hyperventilating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let me get this straight -- the OP seems to believe that the incoming Secretary of Education (she's still incoming until she's been sworn in) will somehow enact a school choice and voucher program that will immediately have impact at the state and local levels, and will have an immediate impact on private school tuition levels.

I'm just going to let that sink in for a moment.

In the meantime, let's consider this. The American institution that is public education is big. How big? Public schools employed over 3 million teachers in 2016. For comparison, the world's largest employer, Wal-Mart, employs 1.4 million people. The active duty U.S. military clocks in at 1.3 million.

What are the odds that Betsy De Vos, much less any other education activist, can have a lasting impact on public education given the size of the bureaucracy? Heck, the Department of Education reported just last month that the Obama Administration's effort to improve America's worst schools with an injection of $7 billion in federal cash had no effect.

So, back to OP's question. No. There is no chance her confirmation will directly increase private school tuition in either the greater Washington, DC area or anywhere else in the country. You can stop hyperventilating.

Uh, OP was asking about the # of applications, not the tuition.

[Anonymous]

DeVos is many things, but "education activist" is not among them. Like Trump, she cares only about herself, her interests, and how she can use a key government position to line her own pockets.

[Anonymous]

Some facts.

DC already has a school voucher program -- mandated by Congress at a cost of $20 million a year.

The vouchers today go to about 1,450 low-income students and 80% of them attend a religious school.

The vouchers provide up to $8400 for K-8th and up to $12,000 for high school.

The schools that accept the vouchers include Beauvoir, Aidan Montessori, St. Peters, GDS and Sidwell.
http://servingourchildrendc.org/our-program/find-a-school/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some facts.

DC already has a school voucher program -- mandated by Congress at a cost of $20 million a year.

The vouchers today go to about 1,450 low-income students and 80% of them attend a religious school.

The vouchers provide up to $8400 for K-8th and up to $12,000 for high school.

The schools that accept the vouchers include Beauvoir, Aidan Montessori, St. Peters, GDS and Sidwell.
http://servingourchildrendc.org/our-program/find-a-school/

Why $12,000? I thought DCPS received nearly $20k total per pupil.

[Anonymous]

I doubt it will make a difference except for parochial schools. The vouchers don't cover enough tuition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Vouchers will drive the cost of privates up like Federal Student Loans have driven up the cost of college.

Yup. It's just another way of diverting public funds into private hands (like much of public education already).

[Anonymous]

The only spill over effect I can see is on specialized schools, such as River, Lab, Commonwealth, etc. If a child with SN, whether a disability, learning or behavioral issue, that normally would have an IEP in a public school is unable to get the same level of support then the parents may make the jump to private. But as for the big 3 or other mainstream schools, no.