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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This is a sincere, not trolling question: why do parents around here spend so much on private schools? I did the rough math in my head and if you have a kid at GDS from K-12 you'll end up spending half a million dollars in tuition - is that correct? I can't believe that people have that much money to spend, particularly when there are really good public schools around. I also think that if these families with all these resources put their time and effort into volunteering with the public schools, ALL kids would be the beneficiaries (and isn't one of GDS's missions social justice?). I know there are families who get financial aid, but aren't most parents shelling out close to $35K per year per child?

To the OP, I wonder if you set that money aside for your child wouldn't he be better off in the long run?

Again, I'm not a troll, just someone who grew up in a middle-class military family and can't wrap my head around spending that kind of money.[/quote]

Selective independent school education is a very expensive luxury.  While many independent school families struggle with education costs, a majority do not. For a great many independent school parents, $40k/year is a small portion (<10%) of their disposable income. Our lifestyle doesn't suffer for it. We already donate and save a significant amount and the alternative uses for tuition money are much more frivolous. Given the choice between writing tuition checks and buying a beach house, tuition wins.

I am a big believer in public education and I would prefer to pay higher taxes for better public schools.  By not sending my child to public school, my local school system has an extra $17k to spend on other students. I don't know how much PTA volunteering or bake sales would equate to that much additional revenue for the public schools. If anything, we are making the job of the public school easier - they have our money but not the burden of educating our child. No one makes the argument that choosing an Ivy undermines community colleges land grant universities. So why make the case that independent K-12 hurts public schools?

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