Your options:

1. Apply for a school transfer near your work if that is a possibility. If they deny it, appeal.
2. Break your lease. This is an option assuming you haven't gotten yourself so deep that you are late on payments or ruined your credit so that a new place would not be a possibility.
3. Talk to the private school about your situation and see if a discount or financial aid is possible.
4. Research cheaper private schools.
5. Enroll your child in the school, be involved, volunteer as much as possible, and work with the teachers and principal. DD has a principal who tends to overlook things, but I've made sure she knows me well so I get a phone call whenever there are any issues with my child.
6. Home school
7. Decrease other expenses. You haven't provided any information about your budget so it is hard to know if this is a possibility.
8. Increase your income. It looks like you've tried this and it isn't working out to well. Also consider that more time working means more stress and less time with DC.

Okay, you said that some of your $35,000 debt is IRS debt. Call the IRS tomorrow and make arrangements for a payment plan. It is very easy to do if you owe the IRS less than $25,000. There are a few more requirements if you owe more than $25,000 but less than $50,000 but it can still be done easily. Now, how much debt will you have left after that? Also, have you already paid the private school for the whole year or have you signed a contract saying that you will pay for the whole year? If so, pulling out now would not make much sense. Have you gone to the school and told them that you are having financial difficulties? Maybe they would be willing to work with you? If you have whittled your monthly expenses to the bone, I would look into breaking the lease and finding a public school that you are more comfortable with (although as multiple pp's have noted, there are no guarantees with personnel at any public or private school, unfortunately). Finally, would your dh's parents loan you some money to help you get out of debt and into a new apartment in a "better" school district (formalized loan with repayment plan, etc.).

You are giving your child the worst education possible at this point, and he will grow up to be just like you, financially illiterate and socially irresponsible, if you don't stop being fatalistic and start making good decisions.

Anonymous wrote:Break your lease and move! Seems like a no brainer and much cheaper than a $35k per year tuition and to drown in debt. Am I missing something as to why this seems so difficult for you??

OP would reply:

1. "I work hard and my kids need private"

and

2. "I can't spend $2,000 on breaking the lease to save $35,000 because I dont have $2,000 duh!!!"

I meet these people all the time.... always the same horseshit story.

Break your lease and move! Seems like a no brainer and much cheaper than a $35k per year tuition and to drown in debt. Am I missing something as to why this seems so difficult for you??

Can your kids live with your In laws?

How much would it cost to break the lease? Maybe you can negotiate with your landlords and get them new renters and not be out 2 years rent but only a couple of months. Then you can move to a different piblic district. Granted all of that may be a lot of change for an elementary school kid but it may be worth it to you to get into a different school and regain some budget control.

Anonymous wrote:I think I already mentioned we toured the school because we know that kind of thing can happen anywhere and were no comfortable with the leadership we met with, the class sizes, the test scores, and the overall depressive state of the teaching staff there.

Class sizes are going to be approximately the same all over Montgomery County. Test scores tell you absolutely nothing about how your kid will do. My kids went to schools with well below average test scores for Montgomery County and they did just fine. Test scores are more a reflection of the homes the students come from than the school. Some of us think our kids benefit by being around other kids who are growing up in a less privileged background. They learn how to interact with people from many different cultures (a valuable life skill, especially today) and in the case of my kids they learned how financially fortunate we are. In your case you are just pretending to be financially fortunate by living a life style that makes it look as though you are while you are drowning in debt, so your children will not learn that lesson.

Part of the reason people are harping on the private is because its basically the only thing you told us about your finances. So of course thats what people are going to gravitate towards. If it turned out your lease was $7,000 a month I'm sure we'd all be telling you to break that shit tomorrow first and foremost.

On the off chance you see this, post a more complete budget and people will genuinely help you if you let them. Or at least we'll try.

Anonymous wrote:OP, you kinda made your own bed here. You engaged in the behavior that got you in trouble with the IRS. You chose the rental that is zoned for the particular school you don't like. You entered into a two year lease. You developed a lifestyle that you can't afford. People can't make this better for you and, frankly, there's not much you can do about this stuff except to live through it and pull your kid from private. If you feel the school isn't good enough, provide her with supports. Supports are far cheaper than many private schools. But, seriously, getting mad at people for telling you what you knew before you posted isn't going to get you anywhere.

And, people are right, molesters are everywhere, teachers are overextended everywhere (except in small privates), most public schools are overcrowded with too many kids to a class. It's reality.

+1

The school isn't bad. I know someone with kids that are there now, and they are excelling. I'm sure you were scared off by the demographics, but you should have researched that before you rented in that area. You can't afford private. Period. You are digging a huge hole you can't get out of. Fix it now.

Anonymous wrote:1. Leases can be broken. Look at options

2. Try other schools. Catholic schools aren't horribly exhorbitant.

Yea and they never molest kids there

PP here: I should add, you can control the situation. Lousy schools can have great outcomes if the parents are involved.

Anonymous wrote:Well, it's settled then. We will put her is a bad school and hope for the best. Thanks for all of your help!

You know, some of us actually planned where they lived based on the local school. I could not afford private school...I did not consider it for DD. I could probably pay the tuition at 15K/yr, but then I would be in debt.

The secret to financial happiness is to live within your means. The home is much more important that the school in educating the child. Make sure the child knows her boundaries. And, make sure she is learning.

1. Leases can be broken. Look at options

2. Try other schools. Catholic schools aren't horribly exhorbitant.