I know several people who strongly believe in public schools. They went to public schools, community college, and then transferred to a very strong state public school. They have spouses who have multiple Ivy degrees, but are raising their children in the public school system.

Faulty premise. Many people believe very strongly in public schools, myself included. Even if my name was Melinda Gates, I'd still send my children to public schools.

Count me as another one who believes your premise is flawed and your biases are showing. We live in North Arlington. We could afford to send our kids to private without batting an eye, but we don't because we are big believers in public education (plus the public schools are excellent). Whatever else you may feel is flashy about me has nothing to do with our decision to attend public rather than private.

OP, we could afford to send out kids to private school though not without feeling the squeeze. More relevant here, my in-laws have offered to pay 100% of tuition for my kids to go to private school because they think it impulse be a better fit for my kids. Indeed, they’ve begged us to send our older (who they deem to be a genius) to private school on their dime. DH and I prefer to keep them in public for a number of reasons. And we love our public (FCPS) elementary school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even for the wealthy, private school isn't always a good cost-benefit analysis. Around here, a lot of the public schools are really, really good. If you're in one of those districts it's not necessary to send a kid to private. I imagine even rich people don't just throw money away.

+1 I'm always shocked when I see the list of colleges of where private school kids are attending, particularly since private school kids are so much more likely to have legacy or big donor hooks. Some parents are spending a half a million dollars on a private school education with the end result being that their kid goes to Haverford...you can do that just as easily at public school!

If you think the sole purpose of sending kids to private school is to get them into a good college, then yeah...don't waste your money.

Anonymous wrote:Even for the wealthy, private school isn't always a good cost-benefit analysis. Around here, a lot of the public schools are really, really good. If you're in one of those districts it's not necessary to send a kid to private. I imagine even rich people don't just throw money away.

+1 I'm always shocked when I see the list of colleges of where private school kids are attending, particularly since private school kids are so much more likely to have legacy or big donor hooks. Some parents are spending a half a million dollars on a private school education with the end result being that their kid goes to Haverford...you can do that just as easily at public school!

I thought the public schools in N. Arlington were supposed to be excellent. Why wouldn't people send their kids to those schools?

Anonymous wrote:I don’t send my kids to private school because I don’t want them surrounded by people like OP.

+1 OP is a twit with too much time on her hands.

Anonymous wrote:I'm in MoCo. The thing is, for as much as we complain about the public schools, they are damn good.

I look at the needs of each child individually and find the right school for that child. For one child, it is private. For the other, it's public.

I have do say the level of work, the expectations, the no nonsense fluff, the classroom management are all better in public.

I'll give you $50 to go over and say this on the MD public school board!

-someone who sends their kid to public and when not joking agrees with you 100%

I just can’t get past the stigma . I’m from the west coast the kids who went to private couldn’t handle public. If I had any thought that my child could have a future and get a job any job even flipping burgers I would send them to public. Not worth the sigma .

I was a BigLaw partner who made seven figures. Our kids went to Arlington Public Schools. We weren't flashy, and I don't recall other N Arl public school families being flashy either. Has Arlington changed that much in less than ten years?

Even for the wealthy, private school isn't always a good cost-benefit analysis. Around here, a lot of the public schools are really, really good. If you're in one of those districts it's not necessary to send a kid to private. I imagine even rich people don't just throw money away.

Anonymous wrote:OP here.

Yes, I'm being so judgmental! And I feel guilty about it. But, I just don't understand it. It's the FLASHY part I don't get.

I think you don't understand what the word flashy means. A lot of people think the stuff you describe is BASIC.

Uhhh that's not what I think of when I hear the phrase "flashing your wealth"

I like super luxury cars and vacations on rented yachts and private islands

What you describe is run of the mill beauty maintenance for UMC

I don’t send my kids to private school because I don’t want them surrounded by people like OP.