Anonymous wrote:It is abundantly clear to me that 11:43 is comparing the very best MoCo magnet schools to middle-of-the-pack private schools -- if 11:43 has indeed really had a child in a private school past Kindergarten at all. (11:43's assessment of, say, takoma park magnet does sound about right)

Those of us with an older tween or teen in Holton, gds or Sidwell don't think that the language and science and math piece "levels out" and becomes par with, say, Westland MS or BCC, as 11:43 suggests.

Anonymous wrote:I feel like a lot of people don't say what they really think because they are afraid of coming across as snobby or elitest.

I'll start first. I think that my private offers a higher quality education than our highly ranked public.

Those of us in the middle income brackets are hard-working, consider education extremely important, and don't tolerate drug use or excessive spending. That viewpoint would be lacking at most private schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I don't care what people think about my choice but I don't like it when people think my choice is a rejection of theirs.

I love this comment, especially the last part.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:10:11 put the issues really well, giving a fair hearing to both sides. We've had our kids in private and public schools, so I hope I can be equally balanced.

Yes, private schools have better specials, like art and music, and particularly in ES. Also, social studies, language and science instruction are better in private schools at the elementary level, although in public ES this varies a bit by where you live. (If you can win a public school language immersion lottery, and language is important to you, then public schools win hands down - but that's for a small minority of public school kids.) Public schools catch up by MS and HS in many of these subject areas, but it would be nice to have cultivated an interest in these when the children are younger.

For this and other reasons, public school parents are obsessed with getting into the magnet programs. Not everyone, but very many families, and particularly in the down-county consortium, see the magnets as the gold ring.

It's painful to say the next thing. Some parents see private schools as a way to help middle-of-the-road kids get into highly selective colleges. Private schools offer more individualized instruction, and great college counseling and contacts, that may help a middle-of-the-road student who might get lost at the local public mega-high school.

Public school parents are increasingly comforted by data showing that, for the same kid, entrance to highly selective colleges is as likely, or more likely, coming from a public than from a private school. Private school parents counter that their kid will be a different kid in a private school environment.

Diversity is the elephant in the room. Private school parents worry about peer group, sometimes as much or more than the things they are comfortable mentioning openly, like the "great specials" and "great writing" they at their private schools. Many private school parents think that by putting their kids in a cohort with college-bound kids they will ensure their own kids have a good attitude towards education and college. Private school parents like to think their private schools have real diversity, incuding SES diversity, because there are lots of kids of color including 2-3 low-income FA kids to provide SES diversity. But having had kids in a well-regarded area private school, I have to say that most of the minority kids were as rich, or richer, than we were. There is very little SES diversity in private schools, we need to admit this, folks.

Public school parents also secretly worry about peer group, although they won't tell you that. They worry about this until their kids get into magnet programs or find a good clique in middle and high school - or not. On the other hand, public school parents also feel that exposing their kids to real diversity, instead of the private school greenhouse environment, they will give their kids an advantage in the real world.

Now for something a little silly. Some private school parents (not all!) also think they are buying "connections" for their kids that will set them up for life. As a private school parent, I think this idea is incredibly dated. Frankly, we made some good connections as the parents in a private school, but I'm totally unconvinced our kids' classmates are going to do greater things than the kids they met in public schools.

Signed,

White parent of kids who have been in private and public magnet and immersion schools

Flame away!

Interesting and thoughtful post. I don't disagree that in many cases, the diversity is based on race/ethnicity and not income, but I do think you are understating the amount of real SES diversity at some schools (generally the ones with larger endowments). Per St. Albans' website, 26% of the students get financial aid and the median award is 67% of full tuition, with the range being up to 95%. I believe Sidwell has similar numbers (maybe even a little better). So your overall point is valid, but there's a bit more SES diversity at some schools (and that's not including many of the Catholic schools, which do even better in that regard).

As someone else pointed out the SES diversity is like a bow tie. The poor and the uber rich. As someone making 100K I would never bother applying to private schools. Those of us in the middle income brackets are hard-working, consider education extremely important, and don't tolerate drug use or excessive spending. That viewpoint would be lacking at most private schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Now for something a little silly. Some private school parents (not all!) also think they are buying "connections" for their kids that will set them up for life. As a private school parent, I think this idea is incredibly dated. Frankly, we made some good connections as the parents in a private school, but I'm totally unconvinced our kids' classmates are going to do greater things than the kids they met in public schools.

I don't think it is silly at all. I went to a NYC private and my friends' parents from that school helped me to get jobs that I never would have gotten on my own.

Anonymous wrote:I feel like a lot of people don't say what they really think because they are afraid of coming across as snobby or elitest.

I'll start first. I think that my private offers a higher quality education than our highly ranked public.

Now for something a little silly. Some private school parents (not all!) also think they are buying "connections" for their kids that will set them up for life. As a private school parent, I think this idea is incredibly dated. Frankly, we made some good connections as the parents in a private school, but I'm totally unconvinced our kids' classmates are going to do greater things than the kids they met in public schools.

[Those of us in the middle income brackets] are hard-working, consider education extremely important, and don't tolerate drug use or excessive spending. That viewpoint would be lacking at most private schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Those of us in the middle income brackets are hard-working, consider education extremely important, and don't tolerate drug use or excessive spending. That viewpoint would be lacking at most private schools.

I find this comment unfair and inaccurate. I can assure you 99+% of parents with kids at private school work hard, consider education extremely important, don't tolerate drug use, and don't favor excessive spending (nor can we afford it after paying tuition!). You should get to know some of us better before you cast judgments like these.

Indeed, at my house, we work really hard and avoid excessive spending precisely so we can save the money needed to get our children the best education we can, and we'd be really horrified if our children wasted any of our effort by engaging in drug use.

Anonymous wrote:

I don't care what people think about my choice but I don't like it when people think my choice is a rejection of theirs.

I love this comment, especially the last part.

Those of us in the middle income brackets are hard-working, consider education extremely important, and don't tolerate drug use or excessive spending. That viewpoint would be lacking at most private schools.