Friday, April 29, 2011
Public or Private?
While the world is consummed with royal wedding fever today, I am pondering an different question. Public or Private school? All three of my kids currently go to a perfectly good public school and the middle and high school are equally good. The high school is actually excellent. The teachers are fantastic and principle at our school is truely devoted. My oldest is in the 4th grade, my youngest in the 1st. So what's the issue you might ask? I just notice, more and more of my son's friends are disapearing from public school. Parents I respect and admire. I have to wonder sometimes, what am I missing? And yet, I also believe your child's education is only as good as you are involved and both my husband and I are very involved. My 4th grader has a learning disability related to dyslexia and I don't think he could cope in a class of 38 (the general size of the 4th grade class at the Cathholic school near me) without the help he gets in the public school. Also my sister, cousin, aunt and 2 sister in laws are public school teachers and I believe in the importance of neighborhood school community. I want my kids to know that there are all kinds of people and that not everyone is privleged. My sane, rational voice says to me, "the kids are doing fine. The school is fine." But my inner paranoid parent voice says "these other parents must know something you don't. Their kids are going to be somehow better and ahead of yours". Am I truely losing it? I also must confess that rigth now, private school tutition is not a feasible alternative. If I felt it was the only option, I could maybe work something out, but would rather continue to save to put these same three kids through college. Anyone have any thoughts?
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I just recently started following you blog and saw this heading and immediately clicked on it! I'm from St. Louis where private/catholic schools are everywhere and most people (in the area where I grew up most sent their kids to private).
ReplyDeleteFor my parents, my mom wanted me to be getting the catholic faith at school and I've learned later on (now in college) all of the things that went on in the public schools that I would have gone to. Apparently, there were tons of drugs sold in between classes. I don't want to scare you and hopefully this isn't the case where you are. I would talk to friends that have kids in the middle and high school and see what they say.
Also my cousins live in North Shore Chicago suburbs and they would never consider not sending their kids to public because the privates just can't compare.
Such a hard debate! Good luck and can't wait to continue to read your blog!!
Prissy and Preppy Flamingo
Also 38 in a class? That's ridiculous. I went to a parish catholic school K-8 and we had 31 at one point but another teacher was in the room half the day and pulled kids out who needed more help.
Also, my cousins
My mom went to private school and decided she didn't want to send her kids to private because it wasn't a real view of the world. When they decided to have kids they moved to a house in a good school district. I went public and my education was SUPERB. It also sounds like you're in a good district. One of my best friends at school is also from Richmond and went to St. Catherine's (the most elite private school in Richmond), she says all the time that I'm smarter and received just as good (if not better) of an education as her. And the kicker, her parents paid more on her high school tuition than college, which is ridiculous. I say if you live in an area with strong public schools, that's the way to go!
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