Where is the fat in private schools?

[Anonymous]

Semi bloated admin teams. But honestly, there isn’t much fat. Schools are expensive to operate, especially at a high level.

-former “big3/5” employee

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you compare to Catholic schools that charge and actually operate on ~15K/student, you realize that the fat is in the facilities and admin pay. Catholics school buildings are usually owned by the parish, so that is “free” to them. They’re not otherwise subsidized to the extent people think they are. For the most part they make do with less.

It's not easy to tell how the funding works for Catholic schools because churches get a lot of privacy, but for sure you can't just compare tuition rates and pretend that's spending.

They often also utilize the wildly underpaid labor of priests and nuns and often underpay non clergy employees as well... it's just not comparable financially

The few (Arlington Diocese)!Catholic schools we have visited do not have any nuns (but did a long time ago) and do not have clergy teaching anything other than the religion classes. There must be some somewhere, but not at any Catholic ES near us.

True. No nuns or clergy at any of the schools we have attended. Does the PP know what they are talking about?

[Anonymous]

The Athletic Directors at some of these schools earn shockingly high salaries. There’s a national search for one right now. Imagine that: a national search for an Athletic Director for a private school.

Your tuition subsidizes the athletes who get free rides and the infrastructure for their teams.

The sports programs are constantly fundraising (IYKYK) and yet we are told how valuable they are in terms of generating revenue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
But are the teachers showing up before and leaving after all of these administrators?

Yes, usually they are. Or if not, they are at home spending many more hours planning and grading than most of these admin spend working outside of school hours.

I'm a teacher with 20 years of experience in public schools. Over the years, I've watched the admin team grow to a bloated, crazy lineup of people with jobs that mostly involve thinking up busy work involving whatever trendy new buzzwords are current and insisting that teachers follow these initiatives and complete tasks that are then forgotten as they move on to the next hot trend. In short, the majority of admin spend their time thinking up ways to justify their jobs.

You could cut out many of these roles and schools would function more efficiently, with happier and less stressed teachers who are then allowed to just focus on teaching. And then raise teacher salaries to attract the most qualified and skilled teachers.

But that won't ever happen. Those with the pretend jobs that admin think up for their friends will never go away.



Teacher with 30 years of experience in private schools - this is exactly my experience. Such a shame.



I’m the teacher who asked the question. I arrive before all admin, and have often turned on the lights to the main office. And I take tons of work home each night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1. sports
2. administration
3. financial aid/scholarships
3. marketing. Think of all the money that goes into promoting a private school, plus all the extras, like catering open houses and accepted student nights, sending swag boxes to accepted students, etc. Teachers in publics are paying out of pocket for school supplies and decorating their classroom. That's probably not happening at the Sidwells of the world.

Lots of money floating around the school community and a lot of tax write offs are needed among the community members. The school is a great place to donate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you compare to Catholic schools that charge and actually operate on ~15K/student, you realize that the fat is in the facilities and admin pay. Catholics school buildings are usually owned by the parish, so that is “free” to them. They’re not otherwise subsidized to the extent people think they are. For the most part they make do with less.

It's not easy to tell how the funding works for Catholic schools because churches get a lot of privacy, but for sure you can't just compare tuition rates and pretend that's spending.

They often also utilize the wildly underpaid labor of priests and nuns and often underpay non clergy employees as well... it's just not comparable financially

The few (Arlington Diocese)!Catholic schools we have visited do not have any nuns (but did a long time ago) and do not have clergy teaching anything other than the religion classes. There must be some somewhere, but not at any Catholic ES near us.

True. No nuns or clergy at any of the schools we have attended. Does the PP know what they are talking about?

Lol nothing but religion class, but don't know what I'm talking about. Yes my darling, I know and am Catholic/Catholic educated/my mother was a Catholic school teacher and have many close family friends who are current Catholic school teachers. They are mostly used in administrative positions these days but that is still underpaid labor and typically Catholic school teachers are underpaid as well. The ones who don't, you'll see it in the tuition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Privates in DMV have unbelievable numbers of administrative staff. No wonder tuition is so high. You don’t need all these development, communication, head of middle school people. It’s crazy.

There are a lot of administrators, but the I've also noticed the school actually runs quite well. We get communications about what's going on, things happen on schedule, etc. Can't say the same about the MCPS school we came from. And frankly, they had a lot of administrators too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I mean, is there fat? I don’t think you’ve established that as fact. You’re just saying tuition is “exorbinant”.

In 2025 APS funding was ~$25k per student. I could easily see those costs doubling when you factor in smaller classes, no economies of scale for grounds and facilities, financial aid, etc.

Np. The vast majority of the funding is for special needs kids. Not saying that’s wrong, but that’s where it’s going.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maintenance costs for buildings and grounds are much lower in public than private - due to economies of scale.

That’s because public schools and grounds aren’t maintained. They let the buildings rot for 30 years and then beg for more funding for a big renovation. They have fixed our toilets over and over because they have money for that, but it would have been cheaper to replace the toilet.

Our public also doesn’t have a single flower or landscaping. They get groups like the Boy Scouts to come pick weeds (no joke. My son’s Cub Scout troop picked weeds and trimmed bushes). The lawn mowing guys are paid a lot for the terrible job they do. The grass is mostly weeds too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you compare to Catholic schools that charge and actually operate on ~15K/student, you realize that the fat is in the facilities and admin pay. Catholics school buildings are usually owned by the parish, so that is “free” to them. They’re not otherwise subsidized to the extent people think they are. For the most part they make do with less.

It's not easy to tell how the funding works for Catholic schools because churches get a lot of privacy, but for sure you can't just compare tuition rates and pretend that's spending.

They often also utilize the wildly underpaid labor of priests and nuns and often underpay non clergy employees as well... it's just not comparable financially

The few (Arlington Diocese)!Catholic schools we have visited do not have any nuns (but did a long time ago) and do not have clergy teaching anything other than the religion classes. There must be some somewhere, but not at any Catholic ES near us.

Catholic schools receive funding from the archdiocese. Those directly associated with a particular parish can also make use of their admin team, for example to process donations and other accounting tasks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean, is there fat? I don’t think you’ve established that as fact. You’re just saying tuition is “exorbinant”.

In 2025 APS funding was ~$25k per student. I could easily see those costs doubling when you factor in smaller classes, no economies of scale for grounds and facilities, financial aid, etc.

Np. The vast majority of the funding is for special needs kids. Not saying that’s wrong, but that’s where it’s going.

The extra expense of accommodations is one reason people here say privates just can’t afford to educate kids with special needs and learning differences. Which is it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you compare to Catholic schools that charge and actually operate on ~15K/student, you realize that the fat is in the facilities and admin pay. Catholics school buildings are usually owned by the parish, so that is “free” to them. They’re not otherwise subsidized to the extent people think they are. For the most part they make do with less.

It's not easy to tell how the funding works for Catholic schools because churches get a lot of privacy, but for sure you can't just compare tuition rates and pretend that's spending.

They often also utilize the wildly underpaid labor of priests and nuns and often underpay non clergy employees as well... it's just not comparable financially

The few (Arlington Diocese)!Catholic schools we have visited do not have any nuns (but did a long time ago) and do not have clergy teaching anything other than the religion classes. There must be some somewhere, but not at any Catholic ES near us.

True. No nuns or clergy at any of the schools we have attended. Does the PP know what they are talking about?

Lol nothing but religion class, but don't know what I'm talking about. Yes my darling, I know and am Catholic/Catholic educated/my mother was a Catholic school teacher and have many close family friends who are current Catholic school teachers. They are mostly used in administrative positions these days but that is still underpaid labor and typically Catholic school teachers are underpaid as well. The ones who don't, you'll see it in the tuition.

So you are walking back your “often”?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you compare to Catholic schools that charge and actually operate on ~15K/student, you realize that the fat is in the facilities and admin pay. Catholics school buildings are usually owned by the parish, so that is “free” to them. They’re not otherwise subsidized to the extent people think they are. For the most part they make do with less.

It's not easy to tell how the funding works for Catholic schools because churches get a lot of privacy, but for sure you can't just compare tuition rates and pretend that's spending.

They often also utilize the wildly underpaid labor of priests and nuns and often underpay non clergy employees as well... it's just not comparable financially

The few (Arlington Diocese)!Catholic schools we have visited do not have any nuns (but did a long time ago) and do not have clergy teaching anything other than the religion classes. There must be some somewhere, but not at any Catholic ES near us.

Yeah, nuns aren’t teaching anymore. But Catholic school teachers and most independent school teachers are wildly underpaid, yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you compare to Catholic schools that charge and actually operate on ~15K/student, you realize that the fat is in the facilities and admin pay. Catholics school buildings are usually owned by the parish, so that is “free” to them. They’re not otherwise subsidized to the extent people think they are. For the most part they make do with less.

It's not easy to tell how the funding works for Catholic schools because churches get a lot of privacy, but for sure you can't just compare tuition rates and pretend that's spending.

They often also utilize the wildly underpaid labor of priests and nuns and often underpay non clergy employees as well... it's just not comparable financially

The few (Arlington Diocese)!Catholic schools we have visited do not have any nuns (but did a long time ago) and do not have clergy teaching anything other than the religion classes. There must be some somewhere, but not at any Catholic ES near us.

My neighbor’s daughter took a job teaching at a local Catholic school right out of college. She barely makes $30k/year.

[Anonymous]

Somehow I don’t think Catholic k-8s are charging the “exorbitant” tuition OP refers to.

Where do the $60k/yr schools put all that money?