Slate: If You Send Your Kid to Private School, You Are a Bad Person

Yeah, if you're in or near certain cities, that's pretty standard.

 

I love me some flyover country, that's for sure.

 

Agreed. I'm sure the statistics favor students in private school over public just as they favor home schooling. The problem is those are not fair comparisons because the kids going to public schools are more likely to have the security and support at home to help ensure their success.

 

The public school would marginally better, I suppose. But most of the kids who attended the private school weren't even from our (average) school district. Wealthy families already live in the Fairfield and Westchester towns with the very best public schools -- Greenwich, Scarsdale, Larchmont, etc.

 

You live on the "gold coast" with the finest public schools in the country. (unless
of course you live in Yonkers or Port Chester) Why the need to send your daughter to one of those snooty private schools?

 

Knowing the education was better, you definitely made the right call ignoring your liberal guilt.

I just wonder in some cases how much better, if at all, the private schools really are. My understanding is that the standards to be certified to teach in New York are very high and it is much easier to get a job teaching at a private school without that certification than it is at a public school. Of course, it depends on where you are in the state, but I know of experienced private school teachers who went back to school to get certified so they would be able to pursue jobs at public schools.

 

Not sure if it's still the case, but historically the public schools have had first pick of teachers because the pay is better and especially because they have health and pension packages that private schools don't offer.

 

This always makes me wonder how private schools can possibly be better, particuarly in the suburbs. Really, in the city or in less-affluent suburbs or rural areas, you are paying to keep your kids away from idiots.

 

The top prep schools in our area compete for the best teachers and pay better than public schools. Catholic schools, not so much.

 

Right, yeah. I'm referring to Catholic schools, not your Exeters and such.

 

A lot less state mandates and more flexibility for vacations, ect. Area I live in has one of highest rated public schools in the state yet many kids still go private. One of reasons is
public school is tough and kid can't hack it so parents put the kid in private school with
perhaps higher perception but more "flexible" approach to grading.

From an athletic standpoint you can effectively "red shirt " a kid by moving them to
private and having them start a grade over. Since they are no longer with their classmates
at public school no one is any wiser.

 

Sure there are some wonderful private schools.

In the areas I've lived most recently, people who have used the private schools, two religious in one area and one non-religious in another place, were appalled at how behind their kids were when they switched to the public schools. That is only limited anecdotal evidence, of course.

The problem, as others have said, is that the parents with the resources to get to private school take those resources with them. While that includes money, it also includes time and being involved in your kids daily life.

Poor parents are not equipped to help schools get better for a variety of reasons. Money is one. Time is another. Most poor people work all the time. Language barriers are another. And some of them don't give a shit about their kids, which is also true of the wealthy, of course.

This Common Core State Standards that is coming will be telling. Based on what I've learned, I fully expect areas with students low on the socio-economic scale, both rural and urban poor, to underperform.