Anonymous
Post 10/05/2021 20:37     Subject: I don't understand why parents waste so much money on private schools in this area.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I suggest OP go tour a couple of private schools during this falls admission process. The tours are quite eye opening and I promise you won’t be asking this question.


OP here, shrug. Having come from the bay area, I had always assumed how well a school did was just purely a function of how many hard working asian kids good at self learning were in any particular school. The whole game is just a filtering tournament anyhow and teachers don't really add huge value. You either have self motivated smart kids or you don't. So as a venture capitalist by training, the ROI for private seems pretty poor and silly intangibles I see being justified by parents on this board are borderline ridiculous. The real KPI is Asian enrollment pre-K numbers. Montgomery county has a bunch of older Asian parents due to Rockville and Bethesda being the good school districts in the 90s haydays. Today, most younger Asian parents are in NoVA. I'd take Haycock over Sidwell or St Albans in 5-10 years.


What do you mean by "how well a school did?" That is not the measure of whether a school is a good fit for a given child. How well did the kid turn out? I assume you are talking about numbers; I am not.
Anonymous
Post 10/05/2021 20:25     Subject: Re:I don't understand why parents waste so much money on private schools in this area.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:People pay for private school for the privilege of excluding certain groups of people like those with a lower socioeconomic status or less of a focus on education. Most of the private schools in the DMV were founded as a way for white people to get around anti-segregation laws.


Read the post right above yours. Your assumptions about why people switch to private are wrong.

a lot of people pick private for the smaller class sizes, too.


But there is always a DCUM poster who needs to baselessly accuse people of racist intent where none exists. Most people want or give their children the best education that they can afford. And that sure as heck isn’t a public school in the DMV.
Anonymous
Post 10/05/2021 19:25     Subject: I don't understand why parents waste so much money on private schools in this area.
I sent my son to private after he was assaulted and the DC public school administration did nothing.

He is at a loving caring school now, getting a great education.

It's not always about college or money. Safety is even more important
Anonymous
Post 10/05/2021 19:18     Subject: I don't understand why parents waste so much money on private schools in this area.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I went to a public school in the 90s, it was one of the top public high schools in California. When I went to university, I noticed very little difference between those who went to public vs private schools. The SAT scores in DC private schools are basically comparable to the top publics. I don't get it, i mean if you got millions to burn, so be it. I rather give my kids a house.


It's beyond academics. There's a certain culture and socialization that exists at private schools that you can't find in public. Most private school parents aren't sending their kids to private school because their kids are super smart - it's because they want to limit their exposure to certain types of people and they want them to continue to perpetuate the culture that happens at these schools. Your public school could graduate full class loads of kids with perfect G.P.A.s and all ivy admissions and private school parents still wouldn't send their kids. You don't understand because you aren't in that crowd so of course it makes no sense to you.


This is silly. My kids are at private schools but if the public schools here were graduating full classes with Ivy admissions and perfect GPA’s, most private parents would switch. The kind of people you’re talking about, who are looking mainly for exclusivity, are a very small percentage of private school parents.
Anonymous
Post 10/05/2021 18:57     Subject: I don't understand why parents waste so much money on private schools in this area.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I went to a public school in the 90s, it was one of the top public high schools in California. When I went to university, I noticed very little difference between those who went to public vs private schools. The SAT scores in DC private schools are basically comparable to the top publics. I don't get it, i mean if you got millions to burn, so be it. I rather give my kids a house.


OP, I re-wrote your statement to fill in the pieces you missed:

I went to a public school in the 90s, because my parents couldn't afford it. I continually tell myself (and therapist) it was one of the top public high schools in California because it makes me less jealous of my private school friends. When I went to university, I noticed very little difference between those who went to public vs private schools. And I asked all of them to confirm my theory, again it really helped me with the fact they my parents couldn't afford it. The SAT scores in DC private schools are basically comparable to the top publics. I don't get it, i mean if you got millions to burn, so be it. I rather give my kids a house, because I can't afford to send them to private school today. And I feel really guilty about it when I see all my friends send their kids there. And by posting on DCUM and saying this out loud I can justify to myself why going to public is so much better for them.


And bam, that's it! OP's post reeks of insecurity.
Anonymous
Post 10/05/2021 18:26     Subject: I don't understand why parents waste so much money on private schools in this area.
Not all private schools are created equal. Let's all remember that.

The $$$ ones, are picky about who they let in. Their scores will be higher; the students will come from higher income families.

The less pickier ones aren't that much better than public schools in terms of curriculum and teaching, but they have smaller class sizes. They can afford things like extra music, PE, art because you are paying for it with your tuition.

I came from a public school district where we had to "donate" $1000 per child ever year for those "extras". Yep, it was the Bay Area - perpetually under funded public schools.
Anonymous
Post 10/05/2021 18:23     Subject: Re:I don't understand why parents waste so much money on private schools in this area.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:People pay for private school for the privilege of excluding certain groups of people like those with a lower socioeconomic status or less of a focus on education. Most of the private schools in the DMV were founded as a way for white people to get around anti-segregation laws.


Read the post right above yours. Your assumptions about why people switch to private are wrong.

a lot of people pick private for the smaller class sizes, too.
Anonymous
Post 10/05/2021 18:19     Subject: I don't understand why parents waste so much money on private schools in this area.
Anonymous wrote:I went to a public school in the 90s, it was one of the top public high schools in California. When I went to university, I noticed very little difference between those who went to public vs private schools. The SAT scores in DC private schools are basically comparable to the top publics. I don't get it, i mean if you got millions to burn, so be it. I rather give my kids a house.


It's beyond academics. There's a certain culture and socialization that exists at private schools that you can't find in public. Most private school parents aren't sending their kids to private school because their kids are super smart - it's because they want to limit their exposure to certain types of people and they want them to continue to perpetuate the culture that happens at these schools. Your public school could graduate full class loads of kids with perfect G.P.A.s and all ivy admissions and private school parents still wouldn't send their kids. You don't understand because you aren't in that crowd so of course it makes no sense to you.
Anonymous
Post 10/04/2021 05:51     Subject: Re:I don't understand why parents waste so much money on private schools in this area.
Anonymous wrote:People pay for private school for the privilege of excluding certain groups of people like those with a lower socioeconomic status or less of a focus on education. Most of the private schools in the DMV were founded as a way for white people to get around anti-segregation laws.


Read the post right above yours. Your assumptions about why people switch to private are wrong.
Anonymous
Post 10/03/2021 19:05     Subject: Re:I don't understand why parents waste so much money on private schools in this area.
People pay for private school for the privilege of excluding certain groups of people like those with a lower socioeconomic status or less of a focus on education. Most of the private schools in the DMV were founded as a way for white people to get around anti-segregation laws.
Anonymous
Post 10/03/2021 17:39     Subject: I don't understand why parents waste so much money on private schools in this area.
We were in FCPS and then moved to private at the end of elementary, after many years of horrible teachers, a revolving door of principals, worksheets from the internet in place of textbooks, bullying, and a complete lack of accountability. THAT is why we went to private. And it is way better.
Anonymous
Post 10/02/2021 00:01     Subject: I don't understand why parents waste so much money on private schools in this area.
Anonymous wrote:I went to a public school in the 90s, it was one of the top public high schools in California. When I went to university, I noticed very little difference between those who went to public vs private schools. The SAT scores in DC private schools are basically comparable to the top publics. I don't get it, i mean if you got millions to burn, so be it. I rather give my kids a house.


School has changed. I’ve taught in both FCPS and a private. Those private kids are getting a much better writing curriculum.
Anonymous
Post 10/01/2021 20:49     Subject: Re:I don't understand why parents waste so much money on private schools in this area.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Other than price, why aren’t we all using the English governor/governess model, supplemented with private tutoring for specific math and science subjects? Reducing the student to teacher ratio to 1:1 (or 2:1, maybe a bit higher if you have 3 or more children) is clearly going to overcome nearly any advantage a school might otherwise offer, at least in terms of educational tailoring and outcomes for specific students. Homeschooling can (emphasis on can) use the same reduction in student to teacher ratios to achieve desirable outcomes. Worries about “socialization” are kind of silly—parents of means are going to make sure their kids are appropriately socialized. So really, by focusing on public v private, folks are missing the true difference making opportunity.


because if haven't figure it out, the modern education system is not about learning anything. It is an endless competitive tournament for your kids to compete for ever smaller slices of professional jobs eroded by by ever more sophisticated automation/software/AI, pushed by parents ever so desperate to hold on to the wealth created by past generations. Get with the program.


There’s no program to get with. Which kids start businesses? Who does it more often - public school kids, private school kids, or very affluent kids taught to be entrepreneurs? What skills do you want your children to have. You may be thinking too small.


Zuckerberg and Bezos are products of public schools.


WTH are you talking about: Zuck went to PEA! Bezos did go to Miami Palmetto, but FL Science Scholar and NMS before Princeton. He did work at McDs, too!
Anonymous
Post 10/01/2021 09:25     Subject: I don't understand why parents waste so much money on private schools in this area.
OP, I'm familiar with Gunn, which is practically blocks away from Stanford (where I went in the late 90s). Your public school is not typical of most public schools. I'm not sure I'd even want to send my child to Gunn with the pressure kids face there.

We do send our child to private school. I'm also a person of color and work in education policy (since apparently professions matter here). We are not wealthy but earn enough.

Diversity mattered to me, and that is partially why we went private. I know someone questioned whether there is actual diversity at private schools. I've looked at all kinds of numbers (I'm a numbers gal, too)! I would not feel comfortable sending my child to several public schools, some that are too White or heavily Black and Latino. I went to a predominantly minority public school (think 98 percentile).

My child would probably do fine in either public or private. I don't care to buy my child a house or leave a trust fund, though I won't mind helping financially in some way down the road. I do care about exposing him to racial and ethnic diversity, a well-rounded education, and a breadth of opportunities. Some public schools can do that but I don't at all strive for anything like Gunn.
Anonymous
Post 09/29/2021 21:08     Subject: Re:I don't understand why parents waste so much money on private schools in this area.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote: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.


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


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.


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.



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.