Reply to Sound off - Ivy grads & high income earners who chose public schools over privates

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]^^ OP, interesting thread.  Thank you for starting it.  Our family is one of the one Ivy parent, two lawyer, high income, MCPS public school families.

Over time, I've been surprised at the offhanded mean-spiritedness of some in the DC area dismissively talk about the public schools (some clearly never even investigating the schools for their own kids).  Looking at this area's public schools in this way is shocking to me b/c it is so at-odds with the reality.

Our Bethesda public is full of engaged, smart, high-achieving parents who are very involved in all aspects of school life.  As a result, the school is a thriving center of learning and community.  I always laugh when someone describes how they just "have" to pay go private because it is the only way to provide their child a good education.  It is simply not true.  Parental education level is the single most important factor in a child's educational success.  Period.  [b]When you have public schools full of smart, well-educated parents, you have great public schools.[/b]  I'm happy to have my kids in a great one.  [/quote]

....when you can successfully zone out poorer, less-educated parents, you have great "public" schools...[/quote]

Oh shut up.  What would you advocate?  Simply have private schools that are "good" and a bunch of public schools that are "bad?"  Having smart, well-educated parents in the public schools makes the entire school better and, yes, makes the entire system better.  Yes, the Bethesda parents who expect a lot and volunteer a lot, etc. make the schools better directly and indirectly.  The county-wide system is better because of their involvement.  If these same parents pulled their kids and went to private schools, the public schools would get worse.  The DC schools are  a perfect example of this: too many of the upper middle class abandoned the schools and the entire system suffered.  In MCPS an FCPS (and others), there are enough of these parents to ensure the system is good -- something that helps every student (even the ones without educated parents themselves).  
As a public school parent, I'm calling out your b.s. construct.  Enjoy going broke paying for private school if you want but there are many of us who are proud, unabashed supporters of our public schools. [/quote]

Actually, my kids are in public schools -- MCPS, not Bethesda or Potomac. And yes, it's better for MCPS to have the Bethesda/Potomac parents' kids in MCPS than in private school. But it's a fact that there is considerable economic school segregation in Montgomery County, as a result of the considerable economic residential segregation in Montgomery County. Which is no accident. Yes, Somerset ES and Carderock ES are part of MCPS. But they're not interchangeable with Georgian Forest ES and Wheaton Woods ES. Nor is Whitman HS interchangeable with Wheaton HS (though both are W schools...)

tl:dr: It's easy to say that you don't have to pay for a private school, when you can afford to pay for a public school that only the kids of affluent parents go to.[/quote]

I'm the pp you're responding to.  Our kids go to Wood Acres.  They have spent time in trailers b/c the school is overcrowded.  The facilities are good but can't compare to private schools (nor would I want them to - that's too much ostentatious wealth for any child to see at school in my opinion).  You can judge public school parents at "affluent" schools if you want, but the truth is that these schools have a lot of kids from a variety of income levels.  There are large houses, small ones, town houses and apartments that feed into the school.  All of these kids benefit from a vibrant parent community.  All of them.  I know families at the other schools you mention and I know the same is true of these schools.  I simply don't buy the "everyone in Bethesda is wealthy" line. [/quote]

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