Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is one reason I dont want our private to cater to kids with learning differences. Learning specialists are expensive and only work with a single or small group at a time. They are not money well spent especially if you have kids like mine who do not need, and have never needed, a learning specialist. People often posts about how its "wrong" or elitist for private schools to not make accommodations for kids with learning differences but the truth of the matter is that is just one more thing that raises costs. If your kid doesn't need it, its hard to stomach how much schools spend on it.

Put your kid in public then, problem solved. Oh, but wait, then all the kids needing accommodations will distract and detract from your DC's learning. Looks like you are totally screwed. It is a shame not everyone is perfect.

First, as others have pointed out, even if your child really is “practically perfect in every way,” your child benefits from a specialist who enables classrooms to remain rigorous and fast-paced. What others haven’t pointed out is that your child also benefits by learning to work with others with different learning styles. Kind of like he will have to do, oh I don’t know, for the rest of his life. Some of our greatest visionaries and CEO’s had learning “disabilities,” but maybe your son never wants to work at those companies? Perhaps you should write his career goals on his resume: “Seeks gainful employment with a firm comprised of members who have never struggled in school in any way and whose learning styles are identical to mine.”

Beyond that, wow—I hope nothing ever happens to you, ever. Perhaps you, or at least your child, walk around this earth and never encounter difficulties with studying, organizing, socializing, struggling with stress, achieving work-life balance, handling pressure, juggling other commitments, developing (gasp! Horror!) eye difficulties that make reading challenging, or god forbid EVER getting really sick and have to play catch up or at the very least balance physical illness and the pressure to complete work. Or maybe your child is super human and never needs help even if they develop these issues! As I mentioned, there are positive externalities—even for your child who never needs help—to having a specialist at school. Perhaps you don’t see those because you are either (a) actually in the care of such a perfect child that literally nothing might ever go wrong and even a slow-paced classroom wouldn’t mess that child up in the slightest; (b) willfully ignorant of the positive externalities that inure to your child both from having a robust classroom experience that is, in part, enabled by these specialists AND those positive externalities that inure to your child by being exposed to people with different learning styles—an exposure that will prove critical in that crazy real world that you can’t control for him and which is full with “not perfect” kids who had help and now run amazing companies; or (c) you are an insufferable person who believes that anyone who needs a slight bit of help in life is weak and unworthy of your child or your child’s school. To borrow from a relatively recent diatribe, maybe you prefer POW’s who “don’t get captured”...much less need help.

This is not a flame as I understand it—a quick, shot-from-the-hip response aimed at abusing the original poster without delving into substance. I thought a long time about whether to respond. I delve into the substance, and the post is intended as a challenge for the PP to think about what he/she said and how short-sighted and even cruel it is.

Thus, I do intend this as a call for you (1) to open your eyes and see the myriad ways in which a school specialist helping others has positive benefits for your child both in the classroom and in preparing your child to function alongside a diverse group of learning styles; and (2) broaden your perspective and think to yourself, “Hey, wait, yeah. What if my kid needed help with something, even small, one day? I’d sure want a specialist then. So why do I wish to begrudge others the same? Is it because I only see what benefits me right this second? Is it because I haven’t thought about it? Or, and I’m not accusing you of this, but is it because you actually have bias against kids who might not learn in the same way yours does? I’m not taking a position; you’re the only one who could answer those questions.

BTW, my child is not special needs and has not needed a specialist. But have a little humility. There but for the grace of God go we. There but for the grace of God...go you.

Anonymous wrote:This is one reason I dont want our private to cater to kids with learning differences. Learning specialists are expensive and only work with a single or small group at a time. They are not money well spent especially if you have kids like mine who do not need, and have never needed, a learning specialist. People often posts about how its "wrong" or elitist for private schools to not make accommodations for kids with learning differences but the truth of the matter is that is just one more thing that raises costs. If your kid doesn't need it, its hard to stomach how much schools spend on it.

Put your kid in public then, problem solved. Oh, but wait, then all the kids needing accommodations will distract and detract from your DC's learning. Looks like you are totally screwed. It is a shame not everyone is perfect.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the current model is not sustainable.

Most of these independent schools are not well managed.

Any CFO should be able to manage costs to some degree. If the schools justification is to raise tuition $3K year over year and cry, the CFO should be fired and acting chairman should be asked to step down.

All privates, not just STA have invested in way too much human capital. I'm amazed how many administrative assistants these schools have or non teachers on pay roll.

It makes you really wonder how poorly run are these schools that charge an arm and a leg to attend

A certain class and type of people believe that if something is more expensive, it's better. It only takes a small subset of families having this mindset to effectively set the tuition increases at all NW DC schools. Even though the first domino in the chain could never actually be identified, hypothetically, let's say the consistently exorbitant price increases start at the Cathedral schools. When NCS has a ~4-5% tuition increase each year, Maret and Sidwell and WIS and GDS (and whatever other $$ private schools are in NW DC) MUST follow suit. No one wants to look like the cheaper option (there will always be some variation, but it will be small), because they worry that consumers would see that as a statement about the quality of their school. I'm sure this effect must have a name but I'm too unschooled myself to know what it is.

Premium pricing (also called prestige pricing) is keeping the price of a product or service artificially high in order to encourage favorable perceptions among buyers (based on the buyers' assumption that expensive products are necessarily better quality).

Anonymous wrote:This is one reason I dont want our private to cater to kids with learning differences. Learning specialists are expensive and only work with a single or small group at a time. They are not money well spent especially if you have kids like mine who do not need, and have never needed, a learning specialist. People often posts about how its "wrong" or elitist for private schools to not make accommodations for kids with learning differences but the truth of the matter is that is just one more thing that raises costs. If your kid doesn't need it, its hard to stomach how much schools spend on it.

I am guessing you will get flamed for this. How familiar are you with what the learning specialists do at your school? You may be pleasantly surprised at how much it benefits everyone. Not all specialists are created equal so it might be a waste at your school, but the ones that are good do far more than just help individual kids. They help a broad spectrum of kids with study skills - note taking, time management - as well as help the teachers find the best ways to reach a whole classroom of students. At the very least, they are helping out individual kids, so your teacher doesn't have to slow down the pace at which she is teaching your kid who doesn't need help.

This is one reason I dont want our private to cater to kids with learning differences. Learning specialists are expensive and only work with a single or small group at a time. They are not money well spent especially if you have kids like mine who do not need, and have never needed, a learning specialist. People often posts about how its "wrong" or elitist for private schools to not make accommodations for kids with learning differences but the truth of the matter is that is just one more thing that raises costs. If your kid doesn't need it, its hard to stomach how much schools spend on it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it will. Plan a accordingly because it is difficult to pull your child out of a private school after a few years. Also know that financial aid awards typically do not increase with tuition, I think once the school knows you are committed they do not make maintaining FA/tuition ratios a priority.

But what infuriated me is that, as tuition rates continue to climb, so does my “contribution” to financial aid pool.

Do you mean by this that you resent having to pay the higher tuition because you perceive that some portion of your tuition is going to subsidize the education of your child's classmates receiving financial aid? That is not the case.

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it will. Plan a accordingly because it is difficult to pull your child out of a private school after a few years. Also know that financial aid awards typically do not increase with tuition, I think once the school knows you are committed they do not make maintaining FA/tuition ratios a priority.

But what infuriated me is that, as tuition rates continue to climb, so does my “contribution” to financial aid pool.

Yes, it will. Plan a accordingly because it is difficult to pull your child out of a private school after a few years. Also know that financial aid awards typically do not increase with tuition, I think once the school knows you are committed they do not make maintaining FA/tuition ratios a priority.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This is true. Private schools have never been this expensive even adjusted for inflation. Back in the day plenty of government workers sent their kids to Cathedral schools and Sidwell etc.

Back in which day?

NP: private school tuition has increased faster than inflation (and faster than government salaries). In real terms, tuition is 2x as much as it was 30 years ago.

I was disappointed to read in the Vanderbilt study (cited above) that independent schools believe that they cannot limit tuition increases to the rate of inflation. They feel like their programs and value proposition will slip if they do.

That comes as a disappointment to me because, with an income of $400,000, we are barely able to afford 2 tuitions as it is. We will genuinely be priced out if tuition goes up rapidly each year. (Our kids are in 7th and 9th grades, and so we prefer not to move them.)

I guess that the schools do not really care if they price people out because they need to do it to maintain their "value position."

I've noticed that, at our kids' schools, there are students who leave every years for financial reasons.

Well, the truth is they already have priced people out, and people have always been priced out of private schools, right? Where you place your price point dictates who you price out, and what your student body looks like.

If you're having trouble paying for the school, apply for financial aid.

Anonymous wrote:the current model is not sustainable.

Most of these independent schools are not well managed.

Any CFO should be able to manage costs to some degree. If the schools justification is to raise tuition $3K year over year and cry, the CFO should be fired and acting chairman should be asked to step down.

All privates, not just STA have invested in way too much human capital. I'm amazed how many administrative assistants these schools have or non teachers on pay roll.

It makes you really wonder how poorly run are these schools that charge an arm and a leg to attend

This is a naïve comment clearly posted by someone who has not seen the operations and finances of one of these independent schools. They run pretty lean on administrative staff. They just provide a lot of really advanced services for the kids and that costs money. Plus, teacher salaries rise faster than cost of living because services in general rise in costs faster than goods. The cost of health care benefits for small organizations like independent schools have also been rising like crazy in recent years. In other words, costs of running a good independent school keeps rising. Now, higher ed is a different story...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This is true. Private schools have never been this expensive even adjusted for inflation. Back in the day plenty of government workers sent their kids to Cathedral schools and Sidwell etc.

Back in which day?

NP: private school tuition has increased faster than inflation (and faster than government salaries). In real terms, tuition is 2x as much as it was 30 years ago.

I was disappointed to read in the Vanderbilt study (cited above) that independent schools believe that they cannot limit tuition increases to the rate of inflation. They feel like their programs and value proposition will slip if they do.

That comes as a disappointment to me because, with an income of $400,000, we are barely able to afford 2 tuitions as it is. We will genuinely be priced out if tuition goes up rapidly each year. (Our kids are in 7th and 9th grades, and so we prefer not to move them.)

I guess that the schools do not really care if they price people out because they need to do it to maintain their "value position."

I've noticed that, at our kids' schools, there are students who leave every years for financial reasons.

Well, the truth is they already have priced people out, and people have always been priced out of private schools, right? Where you place your price point dictates who you price out, and what your student body looks like.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This is true. Private schools have never been this expensive even adjusted for inflation. Back in the day plenty of government workers sent their kids to Cathedral schools and Sidwell etc.

Back in which day?

NP: private school tuition has increased faster than inflation (and faster than government salaries). In real terms, tuition is 2x as much as it was 30 years ago.

I was disappointed to read in the Vanderbilt study (cited above) that independent schools believe that they cannot limit tuition increases to the rate of inflation. They feel like their programs and value proposition will slip if they do.

That comes as a disappointment to me because, with an income of $400,000, we are barely able to afford 2 tuitions as it is. We will genuinely be priced out if tuition goes up rapidly each year. (Our kids are in 7th and 9th grades, and so we prefer not to move them.)

I guess that the schools do not really care if they price people out because they need to do it to maintain their "value position."

I've noticed that, at our kids' schools, there are students who leave every years for financial reasons.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do they recognize they are creating a have/have nots, upstairs/downstairs environment? Do they recognize they are eliminating the largest portion of the socio-economic population? Do they just not care? Filling their pockets with total disregard for a balanced and natural environment? What a warped view of the world they are creating for those boys - so sad!

First, I'm not sure it's the tuition increases that are creating a have/have not environment any more than already exists from the existence of private v. public schools.

In my experience they care very much, and as others have pointed out in detail, they're not filling their pockets, they're just running up against hard financial realities and difficult choices. They're choosing to raise tuition rather than make cuts to the program. I know trustees who are very concerned about the fact they're on a path to pricing many more families out of the schools, but there's no easy solution. The best path would really be one that brought benefits costs under control such that they don't continue to rise faster than inflation and drive everything up, but we as a country don't seems likely to achieve that any time soon.

It's not all about benefit costs. Admin team costs (whether more people or more pay is not clear) and facilities have been a substantial part of the increase. Look at the study done by the team from Vanderbilt.

Do you have a link to the study?

LMGTFY.

http://discoverarchive.vanderbilt.edu/bitstream/handle/1803/8216/Daughtrey%20Hester%20and%20Weatherill%20Ind.%20School%20Capstone%20Project%20Final.pdf?sequence=1

This is a newish paper; I haven't read it. But I have read their work from a few years ago.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do they recognize they are creating a have/have nots, upstairs/downstairs environment? Do they recognize they are eliminating the largest portion of the socio-economic population? Do they just not care? Filling their pockets with total disregard for a balanced and natural environment? What a warped view of the world they are creating for those boys - so sad!

First, I'm not sure it's the tuition increases that are creating a have/have not environment any more than already exists from the existence of private v. public schools.

In my experience they care very much, and as others have pointed out in detail, they're not filling their pockets, they're just running up against hard financial realities and difficult choices. They're choosing to raise tuition rather than make cuts to the program. I know trustees who are very concerned about the fact they're on a path to pricing many more families out of the schools, but there's no easy solution. The best path would really be one that brought benefits costs under control such that they don't continue to rise faster than inflation and drive everything up, but we as a country don't seems likely to achieve that any time soon.

It's not all about benefit costs. Admin team costs (whether more people or more pay is not clear) and facilities have been a substantial part of the increase. Look at the study done by the team from Vanderbilt.

Do you have a link to the study?

Anonymous wrote:

A certain class and type of people believe that if something is more expensive, it's better. It only takes a small subset of families having this mindset to effectively set the tuition increases at all NW DC schools. Even though the first domino in the chain could never actually be identified, hypothetically, let's say the consistently exorbitant price increases start at the Cathedral schools. When NCS has a ~4-5% tuition increase each year, Maret and Sidwell and WIS and GDS (and whatever other $$ private schools are in NW DC) MUST follow suit. No one wants to look like the cheaper option (there will always be some variation, but it will be small), because they worry that consumers would see that as a statement about the quality of their school. I'm sure this effect must have a name but I'm too unschooled myself to know what it is.

A NCS/St. Albans/etc. education is a luxury good.