Reply to I don't understand why parents waste so much money on private schools in this area.

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Based upon what I know of my local public school schedule for K, compared to the private K where my kid is, I am more than happy to keep paying for school (no skin off my back after five years of $$ child care).

For example, my kid's K has a regular daily rhythm. The public K has a different routine every day.

My kid gets 3 hours of outdoor time daily. The public K kids get 20 minutes of recess 4 days a week. NO RECESS on Wednesdays but an extra special so the teachers can have "super planning" time. Unbelievable! (And I used to be a K teacher. I'm enraged for those kids and families.)

My kid's teachers help them prepare snack together and they get to eat outside in a gorgeous courtyard. The public K gets 20 minutes for lunch in a crowded cafeteria at 10 a.m.

Everything my kid's teachers do is focused on social-emotional development. The public K has a 15-minute block at drop-off time devoted to "SEL." What a joke.

Every K teacher and administrator already knows my kid by name and me at least by face. The public school has 700+ children.

My kid's school views every moment as a learning opportunity. The public school principal started her most recent newsletter with: "The kids will NOT be learning if they are NOT in school; learning will ONLY happen when they are here." Patently ridiculous given the past 18 months, but whatever. A clear bid to keep her per-pupil state funding that I can see right through.

Need I go on? It's just a better choice for my kid. I am angry for the families who have no other choice. [/quote]

Wow. Let’s just end this discussion right here. OP’s question has been answered.[/quote]

Yes.  And OPs post misses the point—education is a service that is either purchased directly (via private school / tutoring) or indirectly (based on home purchase price / rents, which are adjusted based on public school district location).  If you max out housing budget to live in a “preferred” district, then the neighbor that also splashes out for private school seems an outrageous spendthrift.  But the same person could buy in a less highly rated school district (saving money in housing expense, and sacrificing neighborhood prestige) and send their kids to private school, but then their neighbor may think their spending on private school is outrageous.  Different strokes for different folks.  Buy (directly or indirectly) the amount of education and housing that is a good value to you, based on what you can afford.
 [/quote]

You’re assuming that people are rational maximizers and that choices actually exist for everyone. They’re not and they don’t.

I’m the PP comparing my kid’s private to our local public.

1) we paid no consideration to schools when we bought because we never thought we’d have a kid; and 
2) we actually bought in the “good” school zone for our division without knowing, because we didn’t care at the time.

We were able to have some choice in our housing location, and after having a kid, in prioritizing budget. The family 2 miles down the street in public housing literally can’t choose a better option. And that makes me angry. Every kid deserves recess.

[/quote]

Fair enough. My main point stands - education is a service to be purchased, directly or indirectly.  Affluent people have more to spend, and therefore more choice, as well as improved educational outcomes.  Increasing the quality of education and/or choices of education providers available to lower-SES people is a complex problem with no easy solutions.  People that care deeply and are passionate about closing the educational outcome gap could devote their OWN time and resources to tutoring disadvantaged children and make a substantial difference in the outcomes of those kids, but very few people will do that (I’m not), and - unfortunately - 30 (or more) years of various government interventions have not worked.  [/quote]

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