Anonymous
Post 05/27/2026 15:11     Subject: If you can afford it why wouldn’t you switch your kids to private with all the terrible things going on
I’ve had my kids in and out of private. MCPS made the best choice academically when it came to high school. Privates simply can’t offer as many options. One of my two younger kids even earned an associates before graduating. The other one took a greater variety of visual arts courses than privates offer and is now in art school on scholarship.
Anonymous
Post 05/27/2026 14:18     Subject: If you can afford it why wouldn’t you switch your kids to private with all the terrible things going on
Anonymous wrote:Because I can complain and pay nothing or complain and pay $50k tuition.


+1 We have friends at elite private schools and they also have complaints about those schools that are non-trivial. But they are richer than we are.
Anonymous
Post 05/27/2026 14:17     Subject: Re:If you can afford it why wouldn’t you switch your kids to private with all the terrible things going on
We are non-White, non-Christian, STEM-focussed expats. The private school is not bringing us any cache nor we are trying to pass. So, we are in search of a like-ability cohort and an education focussed parent group.

The terrible things don't happen to us. A thug will only beat up a thug. No one messes with the nerdy kid who is in a cohort of nerdy kids.

Public schools have more people who look like me. I do not want to be the token diversity of a private school.
Anonymous
Post 05/27/2026 14:13     Subject: If you can afford it why wouldn’t you switch your kids to private with all the terrible things going on
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:There’s no perfect school and some of the problems discussed here are overblown or not applicable


+1

Fearmongering is out of control


A school shooting is my greatest fear right now for my kids.


School shootings occur in private schools too. You'll have to move out of America if you want to reduce that fear.


Out of 134 school shootings from 2000 to 2018, 8 occurred in private schools, while 122 occurred in public schools. https://www.cato.org/blog/are-shootings-more-likely-occur-public-schools


And how many more public schools are there than private schools? Come on, you can do better trolling than this.


If you were less lazy and had actually read the very short article I posted, you would see that it directly answered your weak point:

"Since there are many more public schools than private schools, we must consider that difference. The most recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics show that around 25 percent of U.S. K‑12 schools are private, while about 10 percent of schooled children attend private schools. In other words, the data suggest that children that go to private schools are disproportionately less likely to experience a school shooting than children in public schools. Of course, considering the difference in the number of students across the two sectors does not account for differences in the types of students. After all, at least some of the divergence in school shootings found are likely due to other factors such as household income and parent education levels. However, a recent study by Danish Shakeel and me, presented at the International School Choice and Reform Conference, finds that private schools experience better school culture than public schools even after controlling for several characteristics such as school size, location, racial composition of students and teachers, and the percent of students from low-income families. We find that private schools are significantly less likely than public schools to experience problems such as student fighting, bullying, and, perhaps most importantly, weapon possession. Anytime you write about a tragedy and point to your favorite policy reform as the solution, it can seem opportunistic and, frankly, a little callous. But it is not groundless to think that school type could matter, and nothing should be off-limits for discussion to end these sorts of tragedies."


Danish Shakeel and me? Are you outing your name on DCUM or are you just really bad at using AI?


DP. The PP is quoting their previously linked article, which they make clear. That article was written by someone who work Danish Shakeel on a study. You're really reaching here.
Anonymous
Post 05/27/2026 14:11     Subject: If you can afford it why wouldn’t you switch your kids to private with all the terrible things going on
Because I can complain and pay nothing or complain and pay $50k tuition.
Anonymous
Post 05/27/2026 14:07     Subject: If you can afford it why wouldn’t you switch your kids to private with all the terrible things going on
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:There’s no perfect school and some of the problems discussed here are overblown or not applicable


+1

Fearmongering is out of control


A school shooting is my greatest fear right now for my kids.


School shootings occur in private schools too. You'll have to move out of America if you want to reduce that fear.


Out of 134 school shootings from 2000 to 2018, 8 occurred in private schools, while 122 occurred in public schools. https://www.cato.org/blog/are-shootings-more-likely-occur-public-schools


And how many more public schools are there than private schools? Come on, you can do better trolling than this.


If you were less lazy and had actually read the very short article I posted, you would see that it directly answered your weak point:

"Since there are many more public schools than private schools, we must consider that difference. The most recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics show that around 25 percent of U.S. K‑12 schools are private, while about 10 percent of schooled children attend private schools. In other words, the data suggest that children that go to private schools are disproportionately less likely to experience a school shooting than children in public schools. Of course, considering the difference in the number of students across the two sectors does not account for differences in the types of students. After all, at least some of the divergence in school shootings found are likely due to other factors such as household income and parent education levels. However, a recent study by Danish Shakeel and me, presented at the International School Choice and Reform Conference, finds that private schools experience better school culture than public schools even after controlling for several characteristics such as school size, location, racial composition of students and teachers, and the percent of students from low-income families. We find that private schools are significantly less likely than public schools to experience problems such as student fighting, bullying, and, perhaps most importantly, weapon possession. Anytime you write about a tragedy and point to your favorite policy reform as the solution, it can seem opportunistic and, frankly, a little callous. But it is not groundless to think that school type could matter, and nothing should be off-limits for discussion to end these sorts of tragedies."


Danish Shakeel and me? Are you outing your name on DCUM or are you just really bad at using AI?
Anonymous
Post 05/27/2026 14:04     Subject: If you can afford it why wouldn’t you switch your kids to private with all the terrible things going on
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:There’s no perfect school and some of the problems discussed here are overblown or not applicable


+1

Fearmongering is out of control


A school shooting is my greatest fear right now for my kids.


My kid in private school is the one who experienced a school shooting (not perpetrated by a student or anyone affiliated with the school) so…


It's unfortunate that it can happen anywhere. Statistically, it is still more likely to happen at a public school, though.
\

That's because 82% of students in America are enrolled in public school. Everything is "more likely to happen at a public school."
Anonymous
Post 05/27/2026 14:02     Subject: If you can afford it why wouldn’t you switch your kids to private with all the terrible things going on
Tried, but my son didn't get in. There was only one school I wanted him to go to. Not all private schools are good, and most except the top tier and a 1/2 are not better than public school. In case you haven't noticed, most people who can afford private schools don't actually use them.
Anonymous
Post 05/27/2026 13:55     Subject: If you can afford it why wouldn’t you switch your kids to private with all the terrible things going on
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:There’s no perfect school and some of the problems discussed here are overblown or not applicable


+1

Fearmongering is out of control


A school shooting is my greatest fear right now for my kids.


School shootings occur in private schools too. You'll have to move out of America if you want to reduce that fear.


Out of 134 school shootings from 2000 to 2018, 8 occurred in private schools, while 122 occurred in public schools. https://www.cato.org/blog/are-shootings-more-likely-occur-public-schools


And how many more public schools are there than private schools? Come on, you can do better trolling than this.


I think there's a direct correlation between basic math ability, IQ and the propensity to create much ado about nothing on DCUM



+1

Perfect example is this thread.
Anonymous
Post 05/27/2026 13:52     Subject: If you can afford it why wouldn’t you switch your kids to private with all the terrible things going on
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Because we're in a position to make up for MCPS's deficiencies. MCPS fails all students, but those failures don't fall evenly. If you're an educated, UMC family you can fill in the gaps. Maybe you luck into the advanced options that still exist, and if you don't you supplement that at home. If you've got a gifted kid but you're not in a position to supplement or if you have a special needs kid that MCPS is really fighting giving services, you're probably out of luck, but that's not us.


That’s the ticket. If you ask nothing of MCPS except what they are currently offering then yes you probably feel it is excellent. For anyone that has a neurodivergent or special-needs child public education in Montgomery County is hell.

Can you explain what the private/parochial schools can offer in terms of neurodivergent or special-needs children from licensed and trained professionals? I was always under the assumption that they don't have extra staff to work with individually or even in small groups? Are they trained to work specifically with neurodivergent kids or is it just another body to help the teachers? I'd really like to know how a regular (not the most elite) private school in the county can provide that without the costs being 50k per year?


I personally looked at private when MCPS refused to rectify a significant bullying issue with my SN child. Safety was my 💯 concern. Private education would have been just fine for my family if I could afford it. I just wanted my child in a smaller school, less standardized testing ( huge trigger for self harm and stress), and SAFE. That was not provided by MCPS. Look at what Frederick did to their SN children.

Not all schools in MCPS are created equal. Demoting a principal didn’t fix it.

So that’s why I would switch. Safety is most important. And MCPS cannot guarantee safety for many special needs children. How do I know? I am a former MCPS teacher. Ended up homeschooling.

Please don’t discount when people say things about MCPS that are negative. While many are satisfied, many are suffering silently
Anonymous
Post 05/27/2026 13:25     Subject: If you can afford it why wouldn’t you switch your kids to private with all the terrible things going on
Anonymous wrote:We moved from an elite private school to MoCo schools. Personally, my child wanted (and we supported) a less 100% privileged environment. We appreciated the coddling when they were little, but have no interest in our kids going into their adulthood literally never having been friends with someone who needed free lunches or came from a non college educated family. No judgement to those who do private the whole way - great people and families. We just wanted different exposure a little younger than they did. These are people’s formative years and I wanted them broader experiences for my kids. We have never regretted the choice.


We chose to start our kids in public school for this reason, and switch to private in middle school when the experience in most publics declines dramatically. I'm glad they started out in public elementary though- being exposed to a variety of kids in their class including those with special needs ranging from severe autism, cerebral palsy, intellectual and learning disabilities. They learned early on to be accepting of kids with differences.

Turns out our private is more racially and ethnically diverse than our highly rated public which was majority white or Asian!
Anonymous
Post 05/27/2026 13:19     Subject: If you can afford it why wouldn’t you switch your kids to private with all the terrible things going on
Anonymous wrote:

Maybe stop with the MCPS bashing, OP.

I've been on DCUM for more than 15 years, and public schools have always been excoriated. All of them. And then occasionally there's criticism of privates on the Private school forum, but less, just because parents who pay 70K a year for private typically don't whine unless there's sexual abuse or grave financial mismanagement going on.

The taxpayer-funded schools get the worst of it, not because they're that bad, but because people will have no psychological block at vilifying things they don't directly pay for!!!

So lay off.


Suckers. MCPS offers those things for free!
Anonymous
Post 05/27/2026 13:18     Subject: If you can afford it why wouldn’t you switch your kids to private with all the terrible things going on
Anonymous wrote:We moved from an elite private school to MoCo schools. Personally, my child wanted (and we supported) a less 100% privileged environment. We appreciated the coddling when they were little, but have no interest in our kids going into their adulthood literally never having been friends with someone who needed free lunches or came from a non college educated family. No judgement to those who do private the whole way - great people and families. We just wanted different exposure a little younger than they did. These are people’s formative years and I wanted them broader experiences for my kids. We have never regretted the choice.


Are your kids actually friends with their classmates from different socio-economic backgrounds? Do they go their homes, see their lives up close? Kids often self-segregate by class background and it starts extremely young.
Anonymous
Post 05/27/2026 13:17     Subject: If you can afford it why wouldn’t you switch your kids to private with all the terrible things going on
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:There’s no perfect school and some of the problems discussed here are overblown or not applicable


+1

Fearmongering is out of control


A school shooting is my greatest fear right now for my kids.


School shootings occur in private schools too. You'll have to move out of America if you want to reduce that fear.


Out of 134 school shootings from 2000 to 2018, 8 occurred in private schools, while 122 occurred in public schools. https://www.cato.org/blog/are-shootings-more-likely-occur-public-schools


And how many more public schools are there than private schools? Come on, you can do better trolling than this.


If you were less lazy and had actually read the very short article I posted, you would see that it directly answered your weak point:

"Since there are many more public schools than private schools, we must consider that difference. The most recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics show that around 25 percent of U.S. K‑12 schools are private, while about 10 percent of schooled children attend private schools. In other words, the data suggest that children that go to private schools are disproportionately less likely to experience a school shooting than children in public schools. Of course, considering the difference in the number of students across the two sectors does not account for differences in the types of students. After all, at least some of the divergence in school shootings found are likely due to other factors such as household income and parent education levels. However, a recent study by Danish Shakeel and me, presented at the International School Choice and Reform Conference, finds that private schools experience better school culture than public schools even after controlling for several characteristics such as school size, location, racial composition of students and teachers, and the percent of students from low-income families. We find that private schools are significantly less likely than public schools to experience problems such as student fighting, bullying, and, perhaps most importantly, weapon possession. Anytime you write about a tragedy and point to your favorite policy reform as the solution, it can seem opportunistic and, frankly, a little callous. But it is not groundless to think that school type could matter, and nothing should be off-limits for discussion to end these sorts of tragedies."


You'll notice they failed to address their math problem, and they covered it up with unsupported blah blah.
Anonymous
Post 05/27/2026 13:16     Subject: If you can afford it why wouldn’t you switch your kids to private with all the terrible things going on
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:There’s no perfect school and some of the problems discussed here are overblown or not applicable


+1

Fearmongering is out of control


A school shooting is my greatest fear right now for my kids.


School shootings occur in private schools too. You'll have to move out of America if you want to reduce that fear.


Out of 134 school shootings from 2000 to 2018, 8 occurred in private schools, while 122 occurred in public schools. https://www.cato.org/blog/are-shootings-more-likely-occur-public-schools


And how many more public schools are there than private schools? Come on, you can do better trolling than this.


If you were less lazy and had actually read the very short article I posted, you would see that it directly answered your weak point:

"Since there are many more public schools than private schools, we must consider that difference. The most recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics show that around 25 percent of U.S. K‑12 schools are private, while about 10 percent of schooled children attend private schools. In other words, the data suggest that children that go to private schools are disproportionately less likely to experience a school shooting than children in public schools. Of course, considering the difference in the number of students across the two sectors does not account for differences in the types of students. After all, at least some of the divergence in school shootings found are likely due to other factors such as household income and parent education levels. However, a recent study by Danish Shakeel and me, presented at the International School Choice and Reform Conference, finds that private schools experience better school culture than public schools even after controlling for several characteristics such as school size, location, racial composition of students and teachers, and the percent of students from low-income families. We find that private schools are significantly less likely than public schools to experience problems such as student fighting, bullying, and, perhaps most importantly, weapon possession. Anytime you write about a tragedy and point to your favorite policy reform as the solution, it can seem opportunistic and, frankly, a little callous. But it is not groundless to think that school type could matter, and nothing should be off-limits for discussion to end these sorts of tragedies."