Rich but send kids to urban public school?

[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.

Highlighted parts sound like every single "progressive" private we've ever seen, anywhere, PP.

[Anonymous]

PP - what planet are you from? Do you attend a private? I am sure you dont. Are you telling me what goes on at Cardozo compares to what goes on at GDS, for example?

[Anonymous]

I don't know anyone who does this. The only people I know who send their kids to public do it bc they can't afford private. Over the years, we've know. Many people who started their kids in public (in Jklm schools & Arlington & MoCo). They have all moved their kids to private or pariochal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know anyone who does this. The only people I know who send their kids to public do it bc they can't afford private. Over the years, we've know. Many people who started their kids in public (in Jklm schools & Arlington & MoCo). They have all moved their kids to private or pariochal.

Then there are a lot of people in the DC area you haven't met yet. Like me and most of my neighbors.

[Anonymous]

Previous points about what is done outside of school are so right on. You have to be the example for your children--just going to public school to be exposed to (insert your choice of) diversity isn't the be all and end all for raising fair-minded citizens. It starts at home and how you model the behavior, especially how you, the parent, treat others and address differences. And as much as I'd like to be open minded and cool about sending my DC to Cardozo (my in bounds MS/HS), it's not happening. We aren't moving so private it will be for this EOTP family.

[Anonymous]

Of course! DC2 is now fluent in a 2nd language thanks to public. We tried a well-regarded area private for the DC1 for a few years, but honestly there wasn't a huge difference in quality, and we wish we had arranged the immersion for DC1 instead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course! DC2 is now fluent in a 2nd language thanks to public. We tried a well-regarded area private for the DC1 for a few years, but honestly there wasn't a huge difference in quality, and we wish we had arranged the immersion for DC1 instead.

Before anybody jumps all over me, by "arranged" I meant I wish we had entered DC1 in the lotteries. By the time we figured out the relative merits, it was too late for DC1 to do immersion.

[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.

But that's a different analysis. You are middle class and mixed race. You bring the diversity to the private school. I think this thread is asking more about wealthy people who choose public.

[Anonymous]

I trawled through the schools in the area - both private and public and came to the conclusion that for elementary school at least there wasnt too much of a difference between a decent private (not top 3 or parochial) and a good public (North arlington).

I will revist when my kids reach middle school or if there are any problems but right now I just cant see the value that the extra 30k gives me.

I am of course conscious of the fact that i have the ability to buy into a good school district with all the advantages that it entails. I also have the flexibility to go to a private (if my kids get in of course) should I run into any problems

[Anonymous]

OP, we can probably afford private, but I really do feel that I can do more for my community by sending my kid to a public school. My kid will get a good education no matter where he goes - we can supplement at home and with other classes, etc. But someone else's kid might not have that going for them, and by my trying to make the public school increase standards, it will do a lot more for our neighborhood and for our community as a whole.

[Anonymous]

DC did public language immersion, then a middle school magnet where they learned computer programming, how to solve a Rubik cube in under 5 minutes, and much more. DC is now in a non-science HS magnet. Why would we pay $35K for an education that is less great than this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, we can probably afford private, but I really do feel that I can do more for my community by sending my kid to a public school. My kid will get a good education no matter where he goes - we can supplement at home and with other classes, etc. But someone else's kid might not have that going for them, and by my trying to make the public school increase standards, it will do a lot more for our neighborhood and for our community as a whole.

If you can "probably" afford private, you can't comfortably afford it. Public school may have certain advantages, but no matter how much you supplement, it's not the same experience. I also think it's very naive to think that you can make the public school increase standards. Parents have much less power to influence the school systems than they like to think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, we can probably afford private, but I really do feel that I can do more for my community by sending my kid to a public school. My kid will get a good education no matter where he goes - we can supplement at home and with other classes, etc. But someone else's kid might not have that going for them, and by my trying to make the public school increase standards, it will do a lot more for our neighborhood and for our community as a whole.

If you can "probably" afford private, you can't comfortably afford it. Public school may have certain advantages, but no matter how much you supplement, it's not the same experience. I also think it's very naive to think that you can make the public school increase standards. Parents have much less power to influence the school systems than they like to think.

What is it you think a child will get at private that they can't get at a good public?

I disagree with your assessment about parental influence in schools. Parents of high SES backgrounds typically have a significant influence on schools.

[Anonymous]

We chose the public schools for language immersion and because we believe in public education.

[Anonymous]

I would rather send my child to an okay public school than a "top" private school. I don't want my child to have the private school experience; I want her to go to public school.

I would also rather send my child to an okay public school than to a pressure cooker public high school.

As long as the school is safe and not terrible, we prefer public. High SES kids with involved parents will do fine regardless.