Winning the lottery and paying for tuition!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Private schools are not making a profit - I have attended my head's meeting on the budget where he goes over all the expenses and then shows enrollment and then shows what tuition has to be. I have simplified it but basically I left realizing that it costs a lot to run a school. Health care, basic benefits, salaries, facility set costs, FA take up a majority of the revenue. I don't see schools having a choice unless they pay teachers way less and risk not having great teachers or drop FA altogether. I don't like either of these options so I pay the tuition.

+1 While I've never attended a school board meeting, I've been on numerous boards and find people complain about cost without a real perspective of the budget and what things cost. While I agree costs are outrageous, you don't get something for nothing...yeah it sucks all the way around, but it's not the schools mismanagement of funds. There are things the $40K schools offer than they $20K do not (i.e., daily prepared organic meals, all field trips included, all books included, etc.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:School cost and salaries are especially high when you consider they are 9 month costs. Parents are paying for those other three months with camp tuitions, and teachers and administrators are only working 9 months for those salaries.

It varies for teachers, but school administrators are 12-month employees in the $30k+ schools.

[Anonymous]

Op. I agree it's frustrating but you could make it work if it was your priority. We are in the 1% but our mortgage is half yours and our house isn't even worth $1 million. We also only have 2 kids.

[Anonymous]

Where does the money go? I'm a public school teacher in a small district that parents love. We send our children to private school because I know our district does not provide adequate planning time or adequate training. What do our children get in an expensive private school? They get a ratio of 1:8. Their teachers have 2 or 3 prep blocks per day. Teachers in our children's school get training sessions for half day each week.

In my public middle school, I, and other teachers, get 3 prep periods per week and 25 - 30 students per class. Training? We get two PD days per year. As a language arts teacher, it's difficult for me to give authentic, helpful feedback on my students' writing pieces every week because I teach 105 students. At my children's school, the teachers have no more than 30 - 40 students for the entire year.

I see amazing skill, talent, and dedication among my colleagues. I know l'm just as talented and devoted. With class sizes that small, frequent training sessions, much smaller loads, and real prep time, how can we public school educators offer as much as the privates do?
U

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where does the money go? I'm a public school teacher in a small district that parents love. We send our children to private school because I know our district does not provide adequate planning time or adequate training. What do our children get in an expensive private school? They get a ratio of 1:8. Their teachers have 2 or 3 prep blocks per day. Teachers in our children's school get training sessions for half day each week.

In my public middle school, I, and other teachers, get 3 prep periods per week and 25 - 30 students per class. Training? We get two PD days per year. As a language arts teacher, it's difficult for me to give authentic, helpful feedback on my students' writing pieces every week because I teach 105 students. At my children's school, the teachers have no more than 30 - 40 students for the entire year.

I see amazing skill, talent, and dedication among my colleagues. I know l'm just as talented and devoted. With class sizes that small, frequent training sessions, much smaller loads, and real prep time, how can we public school educators offer as much as the privates do?
U

+1 My wife is a public school teacher and after touring a few schools she was adamant that our kids will go to private and she was dismayed that she doesn't have the opportunity to teach in an environment with an abundance of resources.

[Anonymous]

I understand why your wife feels this way. It breaks my heart to say that we cannot send our children to the school right in our neighborhood. But frm the inside, I see what's missing. This is why public school teachers burn out fast and leave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op. I agree it's frustrating but you could make it work if it was your priority. We are in the 1% but our mortgage is half yours and our house isn't even worth $1 million. We also only have 2 kids.

Very easy for you to say, as someone in the 1%.

[Anonymous]

Can someone please define for me what salary puts someon in the 1% and what salary puts you in the 2%? I've always though of the 1% being millionaires and billionaires with numerous vacation homes, expensive cars, boats, fat portfolios and savings accounts. However, after reasoned this thread I'm beginning to wonder if the 1% actually represents a much lower threshold...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op. I agree it's frustrating but you could make it work if it was your priority. We are in the 1% but our mortgage is half yours and our house isn't even worth $1 million. We also only have 2 kids.

Very easy for you to say, as someone in the 1%.

that's true and a fair point - and i'm pretty sure my kids wouldn't be in private schools if we weren't, because I wouldn't want to make the financial sacrifices to do so. but i guess my point is that you don't need to have a $1 million mortgage AND 3 kids AND private schools AND go to Europe every summer. if private is that important to you, then live in a house that's not worthy of HGTV, don't have the third kid and go on less expensive vacations. And if you want the third kid and the expensive vacations and house, then it's not exactly a hardship to send your children to a highly regarded public school. in fact, plenty of 1%ers have kids in those schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone please define for me what salary puts someon in the 1% and what salary puts you in the 2%? I've always though of the 1% being millionaires and billionaires with numerous vacation homes, expensive cars, boats, fat portfolios and savings accounts. However, after reasoned this thread I'm beginning to wonder if the 1% actually represents a much lower threshold...

for the 1% nationally it's about $400K. in the DC area, about $550K. don;t know for 2% because most articles then go down to the 5% level.

the kind of lifestyle you are thinking about is the top 0.1%.

yes, we are going back to the era of Downton Abbey and the Robber Barons I guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone please define for me what salary puts someon in the 1% and what salary puts you in the 2%? I've always though of the 1% being millionaires and billionaires with numerous vacation homes, expensive cars, boats, fat portfolios and savings accounts. However, after reasoned this thread I'm beginning to wonder if the 1% actually represents a much lower threshold...

for the 1% nationally it's about $400K. in the DC area, about $550K. don;t know for 2% because most articles then go down to the 5% level.

the kind of lifestyle you are thinking about is the top 0.1%.

yes, we are going back to the era of Downton Abbey and the Robber Barons I guess.

Ah ok. Yes you are right. I was confusing .1% with 1%. With a better understanding I can understand how someone in the 1% might be squeezed out of private school depending on their total debt. It takes money to make money and most people attain 1% status without student loan debt and other things.