If you made $1MM annually, would you send your kids to private?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Assume mortgage is paid off and you have three kids. Annual income is appx. $1MM, and outlook with current jobs looks good, but you never know for sure when one spouse could lose a job. Assume you live in a very good public school district and kids are middle school age. Would you switch to private for high school assuming it has the potential to accelerate your kids’ growth to a new level? Costs for each kid would be $50k/annually, but you also have to save aggressively for college, grad school, and you want to make a plan to pay for educations of future grandkids too.

What do financial advisers usually say about investing in private school? For any of you who have sent your kids to private, do you regret it as a financial decision? Felt it was a bad investment?

PS - I’m asking for primarily financial advice here, not trying to trigger the public v private debate that would be more appropriate in the education forum.

Nope. The privates would cherry pick and not choose my children (ASD and LDs).

There are private schools that cater to kids with ASD and LD, though -- would you consider one of those schools if you had the choice? I ask as a parent of kid with an IEP who understands the advantages of public in this regard. But I do sometimes wish I could just pay for a school that was truly right for my kid, instead of just fighting for services to make this school functionally okay.

[Anonymous]

Yes absolutely. We only make $600k and our kids have attended both a top public and a top private school. The private school is just leaps and bounds better in so many ways. I had no idea what we were missing before. Yes it’s expensive but the cost is absolutely worth it to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Probably not, unless there was a specific reason the individual kid needed a different environment. It's more of a philosophical decision than a monetary one. I just don't think it's worth it in most situations.

That’s how we feel too. When we got to this financial stage though, I did ask each of the kids (all doing well in and mostly enjoying public) if they had any interest, and it was an emphatic “no” for all three. While they like many of the kids they know from private school, their impression was that most of the private school kids were even more entitled than the most entitled of the kids in our public in a wealthy area. The two now in college were extremely well prepared, so I’m not sure what the benefit would have been for our particular kids.

Of course I understand why private is desirable for many families or better for kids who have a need, but I think you miss out on a lot when you don’t have the opportunity to navigate a larger, less curated world in HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the public schools are bad, I would spend the money and send the kids to private. That's a good investment.
However, if the public schools are great, I won't waste money in private schools. What would be the benefits?
The only exception is if I'm a celebrity and I would like to my kids to be in a school environment where there is more privacy.

This is a fair argument, and you could also argue that your money would be better spent investing in real estate in a really good school district because then you get the good school AND an appreciating asset.

However, as someone with kids in public school who struggles with certain aspects of how public schools are run (I just don't think they do a good job of preparing kids for college or for life because they are stuck in an old fashioned education model, even at the best publics), I might just ditch public for private if I was at this income level. At least for elementary and maybe middle school, and then make sure my kid can go to the best possible public high school.

Almost any private Catholic school is going to be run in a traditional & old-fashioned manner. Whether that is a good or a bad thing is in the eye of the beholder.

If your view is the bolded, I would look for privates that advertise as having a progressive educational philosophy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are no “very good public school districts” in the DC metro area.

Ain't that the sad sad truth.

[Anonymous]

Yes, all public schools are trash even w and McLean they are poorly managed and have low emphasis on academics and are all about equity dei

[Anonymous]

This is us. We live in a "W" school district, and send our kids to private. That comes to over $100k/year. Our HHI is $1mln-ish. The only debt we have is $150k left on our mortgage. We put away plenty in savings/retirement.

It's not a purely financial decision. If it was, you'd move to the cheapest house and not care at all about school quality. See if it's benefical for your kids to go to private. You can afford it. Is it good for them? That's the question.

[Anonymous]

I would spend more on vacations, outsourcing and setting aside some funds to launch the kids ... house down payment, first car etc. vs sending the kids to private if I am in a wealthy school district

[Anonymous]

To add .. will spend a ton on private tutors and classes to supplement education

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, all public schools are trash even w and McLean they are poorly managed and have low emphasis on academics and are all about equity dei

I hate to break it to you, but any top secular private school is very into equity & DEI.

[Anonymous]

Depends where you live. If I lived somewhere with a good public school option, no I would not opt for private. But my siblings and I also went to private school in this area so that’s a big part of the why; I know it’s not worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the public schools are bad, I would spend the money and send the kids to private. That's a good investment.
However, if the public schools are great, I won't waste money in private schools. What would be the benefits?
The only exception is if I'm a celebrity and I would like to my kids to be in a school environment where there is more privacy.

This is a fair argument, and you could also argue that your money would be better spent investing in real estate in a really good school district because then you get the good school AND an appreciating asset.

However, as someone with kids in public school who struggles with certain aspects of how public schools are run (I just don't think they do a good job of preparing kids for college or for life because they are stuck in an old fashioned education model, even at the best publics), I might just ditch public for private if I was at this income level. At least for elementary and maybe middle school, and then make sure my kid can go to the best possible public high school.

Almost any private Catholic school is going to be run in a traditional & old-fashioned manner. Whether that is a good or a bad thing is in the eye of the beholder.

If your view is the bolded, I would look for privates that advertise as having a progressive educational philosophy.

PP here and yes, obviously I would not leave public for a parochial school. But I would look at Montessori or another progressive school that was anti-screen and used a more progressive model than the traditional public school model.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We were at that point when we moved (one kid in 10th, one in 8th and one in 6th). We chose to stick with public schools. make $1M, 500K is going towards retirement savings and TAXES. I'm not inclined to spend $150K ($50K per kid) to send them to private HS when we live in a great district. The incremental increases in learning would not be that much. My kids were already all highly motivated and good students. Instead I chose to spend on tutors for the one who needed it and a College counselor for 2 of the kids for the college process. No regrets with saving that $200K/kid for the HS years. We go to a HS where 88% of kids go onto 4 year colleges, another 6% go to our excellent CCs and transfer to the state flagship, over 50% graduate with a 3.75+ UW gpa (and there is no grad inflation, just smart kids with highly educated parents who value education and the kids know they are going to college from time they were toddlers).

Yes, it would have been nice to not have 30 kids in classes sometimes, but for 2 of my kids it was not an issues---they thrive in any environment. And the other did just fine in HS as well.
But at the smaller privates, my kids would have missed out on band---a HS with only 400 kids simply cannot have the same quality band/orch/chorus program that one with 3K kids has. And they would have been going to school at least a 45 min drive from where we lived---so nowhere near most of their friends from HS. My kids wanted and deserved to be nearby friends. And the elite smaller privates do not always have as many course options as our large HS has. We had almost every AP course imaginable, with great teachers.

Most families who prioritize things like band/orchestra are doing them privately. Most school bands/orchestra programs are not comparable.

[Anonymous]

If your kid is doing fine in a quality public school, private school is a lifestyle decision. Private offers a more homogeneous student body, especially economically, smaller classes, and a tighter social scene. If you want more of a cliquey, country-club vibe, go private.

[Anonymous]

No, I would send to public
But might matter which public