Is the obsession with private schools justified?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Help me understand the private schools. The teachers make half of public school teachers. How many private school parents would take a job for a much lower salary?? Private schools have wonderful sales people!

Not all teachers make less.

Many have money so it doesn’t matter.

Yes, they make less per hour. They might be married to a richer partner, but private school teachers are underpaid.

All teachers are underpaid. Not all private school teachers are paid less than public school teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Help me understand the private schools. The teachers make half of public school teachers. How many private school parents would take a job for a much lower salary?? Private schools have wonderful sales people!

You're weird and your claims hyperbolic. Private schools, in an effort to remain competitive, will generally ensure they're not paying less than 15% what public schools pay, but that doesn't mean they pay less. Our family is in education and know definitively that some of our positions pay more than equivalent public school positions. It really depends on the type of private school, location, attendance, etc. For some private schools (religious, for example), there is more of a calling for people to teach there, so it's not about chasing the higher salaries.

Factor in the pension and healthcare plans.

Factor in free tuition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here’s the thing….

People who can actually afford these schools and belong there don’t care about prestige, rigor or college admissions.

Your the rube trying to place yourself adjacent to them… which is why people will call you a striver,

The rest don’t care about those sophomoric concerns.

Do they end up with the end goal you sweat and toil over, yes but not why and how you hope it’s happening.

Inside the bubble it’s not opaque… it’s only opaque from the outside looking in.

You are a good example of what I am describing: people tying a school to their social status (“Inside the bubble, it’s not opaque.”)

My only metric is the quality of the education. And by that metric, the top private school my child attends is failing.

So why are you there? Serious question! If I were naming the top high school in the area as far as quality of education, by reputation I think it would be TJ. That’s a public school.

I also feel like if you really want to be “elite” in this country, you don’t stay in DC. This is the backwoods.

If TJ is so great, then why do multiple grads end of up JMU or GMU? What happened there? Could have gotten to that same destination with a lot less effort.

Money is one reason and they go to JMU for free.

Many are ecstatic to go to JMU engineering for free.

Mental health is the other. Many at TJ crash and burn mentally because they don’t want an “elite” education but their parents put all their delusions onto their kids.

Like parents of stressed out kids in privates.

Yes there are stressed out parents in private because they went for the wrong reasons.

The kids are stressed out. Read for understanding.

Yes wealthy kids that never have to worry about money, admissions or what job they’re gonna have also have stress and it’s usually from unrealistic expectations.

But they’re not stressed about their SAT score.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you saying the hundreds of thousands of parents sending their kids to public school do not prioritize education in the same way you do?

X = percentage of private school parents who prioritize education
Y = percentage of public school parents who prioritize education

Are you claiming that Y>X?

No. I am challenging PP’s assumption that sending a kid to public means they will not be surrounded by kids of parents who care about education.

[Anonymous]

What percentage constitutes "surrounded by" in your view?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Help me understand the private schools. The teachers make half of public school teachers. How many private school parents would take a job for a much lower salary?? Private schools have wonderful sales people!

You're weird and your claims hyperbolic. Private schools, in an effort to remain competitive, will generally ensure they're not paying less than 15% what public schools pay, but that doesn't mean they pay less. Our family is in education and know definitively that some of our positions pay more than equivalent public school positions. It really depends on the type of private school, location, attendance, etc. For some private schools (religious, for example), there is more of a calling for people to teach there, so it's not about chasing the higher salaries.

Factor in the pension and healthcare plans.

Factor in free tuition.

A lot of them are only discounts, not free.

[Anonymous]

Even if only discounts, if the teacher has multiple kids, that can add up to lots of value over the years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Even if only discounts, if the teacher has multiple kids, that can add up to lots of value over the years.

If they have kids. Not always.

[Anonymous]

I am not too worried about teachers. I am more concerned about what they actually teach. Not always at the very best level.

[Anonymous]

In any case, the existence of this forum captures well the obsession for private schools in dc.

[Anonymous]

The existence of the college forum and the existence of the public school forum capture...?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The existence of the college forum and the existence of the public school forum capture...?

I don’t know, I post in the private school forum. Maybe You can send us summary of those forums.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Help me understand the private schools. The teachers make half of public school teachers. How many private school parents would take a job for a much lower salary?? Private schools have wonderful sales people!

You're weird and your claims hyperbolic. Private schools, in an effort to remain competitive, will generally ensure they're not paying less than 15% what public schools pay, but that doesn't mean they pay less. Our family is in education and know definitively that some of our positions pay more than equivalent public school positions. It really depends on the type of private school, location, attendance, etc. For some private schools (religious, for example), there is more of a calling for people to teach there, so it's not about chasing the higher salaries.

Factor in the pension and healthcare plans.

Factor in free tuition.

A lot of them are only discounts, not free.

If it’s not free, teacher’s kids are often prioritized for Financial Aid packages. I know a lot of parents who moved to our private school just to get tuition remittance for their kids (some are teachers and some are other admin staff such as accounting, front office, nurses, etc). They could definitely make more other places but they save a lot on tuition, plus there’s the convenience of working the same place you’re bringing your kid to school/having same holiday schedule, getting them access to a top school, and for some it’s based around school philosophy.

Private school teachers are also less over worked and stressed out, usually with more resources, less kids per class, and less behavior issues. Our local public has 26 kids per class with no aide, our private school class has classes half the size. Professional development can also be better at some private schools. Our private school supports our teachers to travel a lot for professional development.

I know several Beauvoir/NCS/StA teachers with young kids who teach there because of daycare on site.

And yes I know several teachers whose spouse makes a lot. They’re not working just for the money. Job quality and satisfaction means a lot to them and they’re not going to get that teaching public school.

[Anonymous]

Also, people are super defensive when someone raises a concern. You can criticize anything except a school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The existence of the college forum and the existence of the public school forum capture...?

I don’t know, I post in the private school forum. Maybe You can send us summary of those forums.

I'm just using your logic.