<p>It does depend on the quality of the public school, and the price and quality of other available private schools. A family who lives in an area of low quality* public schools may be weighing the cost of private school versus the cost of moving to a place with better public schools, for example.</p>
<p>On the other hand, someone who has access to good public schools may not find much educational value in paying for a private school. Even if the private school does offer some additional academic opportunities, some students may not be the type to take advantage of such additional academic opportunities.</p>
<p>(Of course, the above may be too rational; in practice, it is likely that the expensive private schools are mostly populated by the children of the wealthy who already have access to good public schools, while those from families living in the low quality public school areas do not have the money to either pay for private school or move to where there are better public schools.)</p>
<p>*As in those schools where even the top students commonly get placed into remedial courses when they enter college.</p>
<p>I’ve no doubt that this remains the majority . . . but you’d probably also not be surprised to discover that many middle class families are now finding themselves struggling to afford boarding school (which they never imagined doing!) because inadequate funding has gutted the schools even in what used to be the “better” neighborhoods.</p>
<p>You don’t understand how it works. Going to a private high school (for my family and me) was not about getting into college. It’s about having the environment where I know all my teachers extremely well. I know every student in my small class. I can participate in sports and other ECs even though I may not be the best at them. The last fight at my school was about 5 years ago. The last time I heard somebody use a racial slur was probably 2 years ago. It’s about more than just a better education - my school provides me a safe and nurturing place where I can learn as well as mature socially.</p>
<p>Exactly. Except that I’d extend it to many lower-middle class families, affording non-boarding private (e.g., Catholic) schools, and “moderate income” neighborhoods.</p>
<p>ImSoAmbitious – You say “At private school he truly gets spoon fed. … They actually spoon feed the students and teach them.” If you think that this is a selling point for private schools, then you are wrong. Look up the definition of “spoon feed”. It is not a positive expression.</p>
<p>3togo – In response to your question “If your child was offered a free education at every school in the country how would you decide … ?” – I wouldn’t decide. My child would decide, based on any parameters I’d already set (for example, distance from home if I had a child who needed to be close for health or disability reasons). I would strongly support schools that were academically appropriate for my child, but it would still be his/her decision.</p>
<p>My daughter is a student that might have been admitted to an Ivy if she had applied, but she had lost her heart to her “dream school” at an early age. If every Ivy had called and offered her a full scholarship, she would have turned them all down, and she would have had our total support. She is at her dream school, gloriously happy academically, socially, and in every other way possible. She is getting the best education that she could get anywhere because she’s highly motivated and in a school that she loves. It’s not even all about the money.</p>
<p>I’m not knocking Ivies. If someone wants to go, gets in, and can pay for one, that’s great. I would be happy for that student. However, I’ve been around people with all levels of education (Ivy, public, private, four-year, community college, high school), and I have seen little to no correlation between educational achievement and happiness.</p>
<p>@Marisan, I know what it means, but I mean it as a good way. I should probably use another word. It says that it discourages independence. But the kids cannot do as well independently. If given bad teachers, daunting amount of work, bad environment, and hyper competition, how can a child who wishes to succeed but is not as talented face up to this. You would need a very intelligent child who can work independently to succeed in this. I mean that the teachers actually teach and help out the kids, not just give work. The teacher-student relationship is much better. Private school is a great investment for certain types of kids. If your kid is willing to work hard, but is not talented enough to independently succeed, private schools are an amazing investment.</p>
I don’t claim that the ‘level of education’ is equal; rather, I argue that there is no standard and measurable definition for ‘level of education’ that would permit us to compare different institutions. I will readily admit that there are qualitative differences in the educational experiences at Harvard, UDub, and Bemidji State. However, the effect these differences will have is hard to measure and varies widely for individual students.</p>
<p>Haha that’s the thing…I go to private school. I do. But I’m sure as hell not paying (er-my parents I mean haha) 20k a year to go there. I’d be out of there so fast it’d be ridiculous. Arguably one of the best schools in all of Ohio (St. Charles Prep Academy - it’s nationally ranked) does not cost 20k dollars a year; less than half that. And I’d take that education over any other private school education for high school in the world.</p>
<p>With that being said, I completely agree bimbop. I go to private school for much of the same reasons, less fighting, more respectful, personal relationships with teachers, etc. I guess I kind of got too excited when I saw someone paying 20k a year haha. Sorry, I just don’t find that reasonable.</p>
<p>I mean efeens, by the sound of it you go to a catholic school which is subsidized by the church. If there was any sort of church in my school I would leave immediately. I guess my parents also pay for a secular experience. Also, all the catholic schools in my area are not bad schools but they are not anything special either. I know of one that only goes through algebra 2 in the math department.</p>
<p>I’m not talking about Catholic schools; I was just citing St. Charles as a school that is on par with some of the top high schools in the nation, and it is not nearly 20k. I don’t go there, and never said I did. I don’t see where “if there was any sort of church I’d leave immediately” is appropriate in the discussion.</p>
<p>I was merely talking about great, private institutions that don’t have over-the-top and ridiculous tuitions. </p>
<p>And the Obamas are the Obamas. Of course they’re sending they’re children to a school that expensive.</p>
<p>Or, some people get a head start: consider the case of high income HIGH assets - could be some older money: someone who started out with no college loans and a house down payment courtesy of Grandma’s generation.</p>
<p>We have a good income but modest (vs low) assets because we both put ourselves through college and grad school</p>
<p>k efeens, if you go to a non-church affiliated private high school for a fraction of 20k I have no idea how you do it. I live in a not-so-rich area (not northeast or something expensive liek that) and the cheapest secular school around is 18k because they dip heavily into their endowment that has been growing for over 100 years to lower tuition. It is not strange at all to pay 20k for private secular school.</p>