I went to private school, but woud have done just fine, perhaps better, in public schools. My son is going to private school and the environment is better for him (and that is why we are sending him there). My daughter is in public school, is doing very well and will likey remain in public school.

I am not sending my son to private school because I believe he is getting a better education in general, but a better educational experience for him in particular.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you took the money you would pay for private school and instead set it aside and invested it for your child, they could be set for life. Which is better: marginally increasing the quality of your kid's K-12 education (assuming the private school is better) or giving your child complete financial freedom for life?

Couldn't agree with this more. Since birth, we invest 14k for each child each year (on top of college) into a brokerage account, this is the maximum gift allowance per child. My 10yr old has nearly 200k in his account (thank you 2016!). If they sit on this money, they will have 7 figure accounts by their 30s.

My kids go to great oublic schools. I can't imagine a private education thatbwould surely coat in excess of the 14k/yr will be more beneficial than having a net worth 500k+ upon college graduation. Its a total game changer.

As someone who married into this sort of financial situation that you describe, I couldn't possibly agree with you more. Total life changer, even though we don't show it on the outside.

We live in an area with highly regarded public schools and I've generally been happy with them academically for my kids. But, if we could have afforded it we'd have sent them to private for ES at a school that would provide a lot more recess, outside time, movement, etc. I think most public schools, even "great" ones, do a huge disservice to kids by spending way too much of the school day inside, sitting. The expectations for public schools are really not developmentally appropriate, especially for the younger grades.

Teacher here:

The educational experience at my public school was amazing. Hardworking, thoughtful teachers who worked their butts off putting tons of thought into what they were teaching and why. It was a high ranking DCPS on capital hill.

Switched to a private school to have a better commute. It was horrible. No one every did good planning, super old school teachers who were never open to new teaching practices. Taught to the middle so you're screwed if kids are gifted/sped. I m convinced people spent $30k/year to surround their kids with other rich families.

if you're in a good public school, thats where i would send my kid. If not, try charter or private- but look closely!

Anonymous wrote:We have our kids in parochial. We live in a pyramid with low performing schools and I'm not willing to just throw my kids to the wolves. It would pretty much be the same price to put them through parochial as it would be if we traded up to a home in a great school district. Yes, financially it would probably be better to spend the money upgrading our home, but our kids LOVE their school and are doing well academically and socially.

Our situation is similar. We live in an inexpensive city house and are zoned for schools that may be OK - but can easily turn out to be rough. We can pay for private or trade up in house value. Depending on the dollar amounts involved in that trade, private school can turn out not to be as expensive, comparatively, as it sounds. So at that point, you are down to preference. Do I want to move? Do I prefer the private school or a well-regarded public? There's a whole lot of personal preference and circumstance involved in how one answers those questions.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you took the money you would pay for private school and instead set it aside and invested it for your child, they could be set for life. Which is better: marginally increasing the quality of your kid's K-12 education (assuming the private school is better) or giving your child complete financial freedom for life?

Couldn't agree with this more. Since birth, we invest 14k for each child each year (on top of college) into a brokerage account, this is the maximum gift allowance per child. My 10yr old has nearly 200k in his account (thank you 2016!). If they sit on this money, they will have 7 figure accounts by their 30s.

My kids go to great oublic schools. I can't imagine a private education thatbwould surely coat in excess of the 14k/yr will be more beneficial than having a net worth 500k+ upon college graduation. Its a total game changer.

There is no such thing. You can give your child as much as you'd like. The gift allowance just means you can only exclude 14k per person from reporting to the irs for estate planning purposes. Anything over 14k counts against the 5 million plus exclusion.

We live in Fairfax County where public schools are good. If we lived in DC, we would most likely send our kids to private. That is one of the many reasons we live in the suburbs. We like living in a cul de sac. Kids can ride bikes or play basketball on our street. Good public schools. Yard.

Anonymous wrote:Private schools are just for bragging rights for the parents. It's a huge waste of money unless you live in a horrible public school district. Move to a better public school district, save the money for college. Overpriced privates are for suckers or people with too much money and not enough common sense.

We live in the city and we like it. We're willing to pay for private so we can live where we want. Life is full of trade offs. I'd consider myself neither a sucker nor a braggart.

We have our kids in parochial. We live in a pyramid with low performing schools and I'm not willing to just throw my kids to the wolves. It would pretty much be the same price to put them through parochial as it would be if we traded up to a home in a great school district. Yes, financially it would probably be better to spend the money upgrading our home, but our kids LOVE their school and are doing well academically and socially.

Depends on where you live. If you live in a bad school district, private may not be a bad option. Totally depends on the cost of tuition vs. moving...and other benefits like small class size, individual attention etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Private schools, in my experience, churn out kids that can get into great colleges (at a cost - to both the child and the parents).

that's a loaded response PP!

My DD is a senior at our local (highly ranked) public. In her graduating class alone there are a few Stanfords AND Harvards....also a USC (Cali not Carolina), NYU, and Michigan.

Yup. Im local and my niece and nephew graduated Oakton HS and one is going to Stanford and the other just graduated MIT. Both very bright kids and they got their education for free. Now all mom and dad have to pay for is their extremely expensive college.

Anonymous wrote:Teacher family here. We've gone back and forth between private and homeschooling several times (ruled out public very quickly) and are currently planning on homeschooling.

Why> If you live in the DC area, the public schools are really pretty good compared to the rest of the country.

It depends on the public options. Where I live (Vienna), very few People send their kids to privates. We have really good schools...as good as any local private schools

Anonymous wrote:Private schools are just for bragging rights for the parents. It's a huge waste of money unless you live in a horrible public school district. Move to a better public school district, save the money for college. Overpriced privates are for suckers or people with too much money and not enough common sense.

Other than religious reasons, parents who thinks private schools give their kids a leg up into prestigious colleges are deluding themselves...however, I for one appreciate their contribution into the tax base even though their kids are not benefiting from it.

Private schools are just for bragging rights for the parents. It's a huge waste of money unless you live in a horrible public school district. Move to a better public school district, save the money for college. Overpriced privates are for suckers or people with too much money and not enough common sense.