Rich but send kids to urban public school?

[Anonymous]

"Exposing our kids to diversity is very important to my husband and I. We want our kids to have exposure to people if different backgrounds and this is hard to get at a private. Can you comment a bit on what the differences were between you public versus private education? "

Correct grammar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hello. My kid is not yet school age but is about to be and we go bak and forth on whether to send them to a public or private. We are blessed to be able to afford private, but think it's important to utilize and help strengthen public institutions when possible. Are there any other wealthy parents out there that are currently or considering in the future sending their kids to city public schools?

Your obligation is to your child, not to society. If the public schools are good send your child there by all means. If they are crappy, you are doing your child a disservice and I doubt would make any change to the system.

Not in the U.S. -- every person living in a democratic country should be interested in the development of an educated citizenry.

[Anonymous]

I bet a lot of you who think/say you could easily afford private school for 1-2 kids in Washington really cannot. Unless you're talking about some little parish k-8.

Coming up with that tuition every year, $34k-$80k (2 kids @ St. Albans) is crushing. Even for lawyers like us with a low mortgage it's often a burden

[Anonymous]

I'm curious. How many of you PPs will really stay public past elementary?
My family didn't have the luxury of choice and middle school as a minority student was the stuff of nightmares. Drugs, 12 year-old girls pregnant, daily fights in cafeteria/lunchroom/gymnasium "multipurpose" room because facilities were so pathetic, students coming to school hungry or full of Lay's/Kool-Aid "breakfast"...getting swatted on the butt trying to get to class, hands put down my shirt, shoved into lockers etc. Diversity did not promote academic achievement nor did it facilitate understanding. In fact it drove us further apart.
So much time was spent on disciplinary issues and reinforcing classroom expectations that no real learning went on. I spent the majority of my classroom time in the corner with a book I'd brought from home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Exposing our kids to diversity is very important to my husband and I. We want our kids to have exposure to people if different backgrounds and this is hard to get at a private. Can you comment a bit on what the differences were between you public versus private education? "

Correct grammar.

Touché.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Exposing our kids to diversity is very important to my husband and I."

Too easy.

[Anonymous]

We went to a good public for elementary and then went private for middle and high school. We were happy with that route.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for sharing your story. Do you think if you had gone to public school all the way through your adult life would have turned out any different?

No idea.

I suspect I would have had a better shot at Yale or Harvard etc applying from Wilson (wound up going to a top ten SLAC). But maybe I would have been less prepared for college once I got there. I know the top students in my class at Wilson had some trouble adjusting to college at first academically - and I'm talking about really smart kids with smart parents. I think Wilson has improved a lot (though some of the teachers still suck bc you can't just get rid of them).

Maybe I would have wound up being a little less high strung and uptight - spending six teen years in a high stress environment does things to your personality, I think.

I've also noticed that my friends who went all the way through Wilson have dated and married interracially more than my friends from private school. That could just be a coincidence, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think its crazy to not at least try public school, at least for the elem years.

I agree.

[Anonymous]

Amy Carter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious. How many of you PPs will really stay public past elementary?
My family didn't have the luxury of choice and middle school as a minority student was the stuff of nightmares. Drugs, 12 year-old girls pregnant, daily fights in cafeteria/lunchroom/gymnasium "multipurpose" room because facilities were so pathetic, students coming to school hungry or full of Lay's/Kool-Aid "breakfast"...getting swatted on the butt trying to get to class, hands put down my shirt, shoved into lockers etc. Diversity did not promote academic achievement nor did it facilitate understanding. In fact it drove us further apart.
So much time was spent on disciplinary issues and reinforcing classroom expectations that no real learning went on. I spent the majority of my classroom time in the corner with a book I'd brought from home.

Where did you go to school? And why did no one intervene with this kind of behavior (towards you)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our family can afford private nut we chose public immersion school to get language exposure.

+1. Our kid is the first one to attend public school ever. DH and I went to private schools and are Ivy grads, undergrad and grad schools. We want the immersion language primarily.

[Anonymous]

We have friends who could easily afford private but send their kids to public. They are very active, and donate a lot of time and money to the school. Their kids are all doing well in school and seem to be very grounded, good kids. No sense of entitlement or snobbery at all, and they get along with all kinds of people.

[Anonymous]

Well my kids go to private and are not snobby, intolerant, or entitled. They are great kids with diverse friends and interests, and volunteer and give back. Our kids dont get international vacations and we dont live in a big house. We are a mixed race, solidly middle class family getting great financial aid. Our kids are thriving at their progressive school, and we love the education they are getting.

Dont believe generalities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well my kids go to private and are not snobby, intolerant, or entitled. They are great kids with diverse friends and interests, and volunteer and give back. Our kids dont get international vacations and we dont live in a big house. We are a mixed race, solidly middle class family getting great financial aid. Our kids are thriving at their progressive school, and we love the education they are getting.

Dont believe generalities.

It is so easy to generalize and stereotype private school goers in order to justify not going that route. You see more public school parents bashing private school than the other way around. Who cares? Just do what you want and what you think is best for you and your family. Don't criticize others just because they are choosing another route. I find the previous posts humorous because some posters talk about being kind, open, and diverse. When it comes down to it, this is your decision as the parent who is helping to pave the way for your child or children. How you do thst is your choice. Stop being so concerned about how others are choosing to spend their money.