Reply to If your parents scrimped and saved to send you to private school, do you appreciate it now?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm noticing many of my friends who send their kids to public school went to private school themselves.  And vice versa.

We are currently scrimping and saving to send our 2 kids to private middle and high school.  [b]Our income is good (HHI of $320,000), but it still means a small house that needs updating, old cars, clothes from Old Navy, modest vacations, etc. [/b] We spend $8000 per month on tuition.  After saving for retirement and college (both of which are in good shape), we don't have much left over.

We think it's worth it because we really like the school our kids attend.  However, I'm curious if they will think it was worth it.  (Most of their friends in our neighborhood attend public school in our Bethesda neighborhood.  Our kids do a decent job in school, but are not academic super stars who would excel in public school, and therefore are the types of kids who benefit most from private school, in our opinion.)

TIA!  I'm really only seeking advice from people who went to private school themselves as kids, not from people who wish to criticize our decision to spend money on tuition for middle and high school.[/quote]

You lost me there.[/quote]

Why?  They're spending $80,000 to $100,000 on childcare every year (taking into account summer programs).  HHI of $320, probably paying $100k in taxes. [b] So they're spending almost half their after tax income on school. That's absolutely crazy and no wonder cash is tight.  [/b]

Given that you live in one of the best public school districts in the country AND your kids are only doing moderately well, yeah, private is a waste.  If your kids are only doing mediocre in private school, they're not going to be superstars in college. So if you're measuring success by their professional success, they're never going to be superstars on the path they're on. Or, if they are professional superstars, it'll be in a job that they could have gotten with a crappy public school degree too.  If you're measuring success by other things, like happiness, then sure maybe they might be happier at private. Or maybe they're happier at public. Who knows.  But you're spending an awful lot of money/stress on something that's like a 50/50 likelihood (of being more intangibly happy).  I think there are also dangerous messages to send to kids that you spend half your household income on "experiential intangibles" for them.

I went to privates for 5 years in my childhood. It was no better or worse than public for me. [/quote]

It's insane and a horrible financial decision.  [/quote]

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