I would prefer that my child's teacher not give me these reasons for working in private school:

[Anonymous]

My mom (now retired) is one of the best teachers I have ever known. I should know, because she was my teacher for most of high school. She never taught at a public school. She didn't want to deal with the large classes. She didn't want to spend her time working on discipline problems (even though she became the school's assistant principal in addition to being a teacher, which meant she was the school's disciplinarian). She didn't want the curricular limitations of public school.

She inspired many students; she taught the advanced kids AND the kids who struggled equally well. All of them loved having her and appreciated her respect for their minds.

She never made as much money as public school teachers -- not that they make that much -- but she worked hard until she retired. Her day started at 7 am and after she came home at about 5 or 5:30 and made dinner for us, she did her paperwork.

She taught and led the summer school. She was amazing at what she did, even with those very reasons behind her choices. You'd be blessed to have her teaching your kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That may be what you'd like to hear, but if it's what I heard, I'd thinking it was BS.

I don't think private schools administrators and parents are more supportive of teachers when it comes to disciplinary issues. I don't think private school students are generally fast learners or of above average intelligence -- or even that those are the most fun/challenging/rewarding students to teach. (The B+ kids can be pretty uninspiring actually). And getting to know the families is a real mixed bag.

Private school teacher here. Well said. I wonder if we are at the same school.

I will also add that the admin is particularly unhelpful when the child in question is the daughter/son of a board member or large donor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That may be what you'd like to hear, but if it's what I heard, I'd [be] thinking it was BS.

I don't think private schools administrators and parents are more supportive of teachers when it comes to disciplinary issues. I don't think private school students are generally fast learners or of above average intelligence -- or even that those are the most fun/challenging/rewarding students to teach. (The B+ kids can be pretty uninspiring actually). And getting to know the families is a real mixed bag.

Private school teacher here. Well said. I wonder if we are at the same school.

I will also add that the admin is particularly unhelpful when the child in question is the daughter/son of a board member or large donor.

I suspect this is true of most independent schools. It's almost built into the nature of the beast. Seems like it would take a strong administration to resist these tendencies, as well as sufficient/reliable parent demand for a private school that goes against the grain in certain respects.

[Anonymous]

This thread is so stupid. I've known a number of excellent teachers who, while we were DCPS, wouldn't have dreamed of ever going private because they find meaning in helping kids who won't get it otherwise. Same teachers a few years in have played their part and are applying to private schools so they may actually perfect their craft -- teaching to kids whose ass-backward administration is not to benefit testing companies but to benefit kids in a shrinking global economy, and perhaps even make a difference by helping the most promising students to reach beyond what is attainable in public schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, I am not saying that the teachers who say this are incompetent, but I do ask myself if they are capable of doing the "hard" work. I would prefer someone who is capable of complex situations working on easier ones.

OP,

In my experiences in public ed, I've had several private school teachers observe me before attempting to make the move to public. Not one has joined the public ranks. My classes are not out of control, but b/c they're needy on so many levels and b/c you MUST differentiate in order to hit their needs, it's exhausting. So not only did these teachers observe me plan, they also watched me in the classroom.

They all said they would never trade what they had (crappy salary and all) for public.

I have, however, seen some of our good teacher leave for private, but most had spouses who made some good money. One was able to move in with her sister in a "friendlier" state. So finances were not so difficult to manage.

But I agree. I think that the best teachers are those who can teach successfully in a highly impacted school. They are patient, creative (as in really thinking outside the box), energetic, and very funny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My mom (now retired) is one of the best teachers I have ever known. I should know, because she was my teacher for most of high school. She never taught at a public school. She didn't want to deal with the large classes. She didn't want to spend her time working on discipline problems (even though she became the school's assistant principal in addition to being a teacher, which meant she was the school's disciplinarian). She didn't want the curricular limitations of public school.

She inspired many students; she taught the advanced kids AND the kids who struggled equally well. All of them loved having her and appreciated her respect for their minds.

She never made as much money as public school teachers -- not that they make that much -- but she worked hard until she retired. Her day started at 7 am and after she came home at about 5 or 5:30 and made dinner for us, she did her paperwork.

She taught and led the summer school. She was amazing at what she did, even with those very reasons behind her choices. You'd be blessed to have her teaching your kids.

I'm sure she was indeed very good, but the true test is whether she COULD have handled a large class with disciplinary problems. Being an administrator in a private is very different from being an administrator in a public school. I went to private but now teach in a public school. So I've seen both sides.

[Anonymous]

There's no "true test." It matters whether you do your job well -- not whether you could do somebody else's job well. Find the job that plays to your strengths and interests/goals and take satisfaction in that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, I am not saying that the teachers who say this are incompetent, but I do ask myself if they are capable of doing the "hard" work. I would prefer someone who is capable of complex situations working on easier ones.

OP,

In my experiences in public ed, I've had several private school teachers observe me before attempting to make the move to public. Not one has joined the public ranks. My classes are not out of control, but b/c they're needy on so many levels and b/c you MUST differentiate in order to hit their needs, it's exhausting. So not only did these teachers observe me plan, they also watched me in the classroom.

They all said they would never trade what they had (crappy salary and all) for public.

I have, however, seen some of our good teacher leave for private, but most had spouses who made some good money. One was able to move in with her sister in a "friendlier" state. So finances were not so difficult to manage.

But I agree. I think that the best teachers are those who can teach successfully in a highly impacted school. They are patient, creative (as in really thinking outside the box), energetic, and very funny.

My father was in education. He said that you never know if a teacher is good if the situation is easy, like smart kids, small groups. He said that you separate the good from the bad in the worst environments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, I am not saying that the teachers who say this are incompetent, but I do ask myself if they are capable of doing the "hard" work. I would prefer someone who is capable of complex situations working on easier ones.

OP,

In my experiences in public ed, I've had several private school teachers observe me before attempting to make the move to public. Not one has joined the public ranks. My classes are not out of control, but b/c they're needy on so many levels and b/c you MUST differentiate in order to hit their needs, it's exhausting. So not only did these teachers observe me plan, they also watched me in the classroom.

They all said they would never trade what they had (crappy salary and all) for public.

I have, however, seen some of our good teacher leave for private, but most had spouses who made some good money. One was able to move in with her sister in a "friendlier" state. So finances were not so difficult to manage.

But I agree. I think that the best teachers are those who can teach successfully in a highly impacted school. They are patient, creative (as in really thinking outside the box), energetic, and very funny.

My father was in education. He said that you never know if a teacher is good if the situation is easy, like smart kids, small groups. He said that you separate the good from the bad in the worst environments.

I get the point he's making, but I went to a great suburban public high school with relatively small class sizes (20 or so) and had some legendary, life-changing teachers (and yeah, a few duds). it didn't need to be "Blackboard Jungle" for us to know who the master teachers were. And I've seen some of the same type of amazing teachers at the current independent school (and some who are less strong). Now, is there a special place in heaven for those teachers who succeed in the toughest environments? Sure, hats off.

[Anonymous]

Of course, the flip side of what he said is that certain environments make it easy to teach well -- e.g. small groups, smart kids. Which, of course, is why we seek out those environments for our kids. If my DC is well-taught I don't really care what part of that I should attribute to the intrinsic strength and excellence of the teachers vs. the environment. It's a package deal.

And, in general, I'd much prefer to work in an environment where administration sets me (and my colleagues) up to succeed than in one where there are lots of obstacles in the way of me doing my job well. That's not because I can only perform well under easy circumstances or because I'm lazy. It's because I have very high standards and like to set ambitious goals.

Which is not to say that there aren't other laudable ways of doing a job or people who seek different kinds of rewards (e.g. helping the least well off) -- just to point out that the allure of a good working environment can be that it helps you soar -- not that it lets you coast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think many would say "I don't have the proper certification to teach in public school." I know that is true for my sister in law.

BINGO

[Anonymous]

Well, if that's true then you've sent your DC to the wrong private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Private school kids are not always better behaved than public school Kids. Signed...a teacher

+1 signed a parent who is amazed at the misbehavior in our child's particular grade at our new school (not a school wide thing, just a weird luck of the draw for our cohort - unfortunately)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Private school teacher here. Well said. I wonder if we are at the same school.

I will also add that the admin is particularly unhelpful when the child in question is the daughter/son of a board member or large donor.

+1 again from same parent...it isn't just the big donors but also the "well established" families who have older kids at the school. I have yet to find out whether their older kids are also misbehaving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My mom (now retired) is one of the best teachers I have ever known. I should know, because she was my teacher for most of high school. She never taught at a public school. She didn't want to deal with the large classes. She didn't want to spend her time working on discipline problems (even though she became the school's assistant principal in addition to being a teacher, which meant she was the school's disciplinarian). She didn't want the curricular limitations of public school.

She inspired many students; she taught the advanced kids AND the kids who struggled equally well. All of them loved having her and appreciated her respect for their minds.

She never made as much money as public school teachers -- not that they make that much -- but she worked hard until she retired. Her day started at 7 am and after she came home at about 5 or 5:30 and made dinner for us, she did her paperwork.

She taught and led the summer school. She was amazing at what she did, even with those very reasons behind her choices. You'd be blessed to have her teaching your kids.

I must admit, parents teaching their kids is a big concern of mine in private school. I question whether they can be completely objective. The same for heads of schools, I wonder how often their kids end up at the top of the class vs. not. How often they get into the better schools and/or scholarships. My kids are still young but they have teacher kids and heads of school kids in their grades and classes. It just makes me wonder what will happen in the future. Thanks.