Public school is a no brainer here

Re: Public school is a no brainer here

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  banana468 member

  

  February 1

  Put the kid in a different school.
  
  But also look into the options for your area.  After going through some extensive meetings and phone calls, there's a criteria for bullying.  So start to document it.  When we did and wrote to the school we were basically team "You will do something or we will" and they reacted appropriately. 

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  short+sassy member

  

  February 1

  There will be friend and group dynamics at any school.  It might be a bit easier at a bigger school where there are more friend groups to choose from.  But it's not going to eliminate that potential.
  
  Although the daughter shouldn't get to make the final decision, she's old enough to give her opinion and that should have some weight for the LW also.
  
  My soapbox:
  
  I'm pretty biased.  I always went to public school.  It was a great experience for me and I felt I got a solid education.  I have a strong negative view of private schools.  They've always struck me as being elitist and a means to keep your child from interacting with the "riff raff"...which usually translates to only being exposed to people who are the same race, religion, and socioeconomic status.
  
  I try to balance that with some of the very good reasons a parent might want to send their child to a private school.  So I won't judge a parent as to "why", until I get to know them better.
  
  But at the end of the day, public schools have "haves" and "have nots".  Private schools only have "haves".  And in some areas, it even becomes money taken from the public schools to continue to widen that socioeconomic gap.  So the "haves" for generations to come can keep things the status quo.

  

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  ei34 member

  

  February 1

  I’d make the switch too.  Im not in that upper crust mindset of the elite private schools, to me it means Catholic schools which offer way fewer services and opportunities plus lower quality teachers compared to public schools (could just be by me, bc the public schools here are excellent).
  

  
  

  That said, I know that fancy private schools exist.  Your DD will likely succeed academically anywhere if she’s bright and has strong study habits. A larger friend pool can be a good thing socially, especially for tweens/teens. 

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  short+sassy member

  

  February 1

  ei34 said:

  I’d make the switch too.  Im not in that upper crust mindset of the elite private schools, to me it means Catholic schools which offer way fewer services and opportunities plus lower quality teachers compared to public schools (could just be by me, bc the public schools here are excellent).
  

  
  

  That said, I know that fancy private schools exist.  Your DD will likely succeed academically anywhere if she’s bright and has strong study habits. A larger friend pool can be a good thing socially, especially for tweens/teens. 

  New Orleans has the highest per capita rate of students in private schools.  It is also a VERY Catholic city.
  
  We also have some of the worst public schools in the country.  Which does mean the private schools are a better education for children, at least here.  I can't help but understand why so many people here send their kids to private school, even though this is exactly the vicious cycle I am talking about. 
  
  I also think some of the public school failure is done on purpose.  Tourism has always been a big industry.  And what do you need for profitable tourism?  A LOT of people willing to work minimum/low wage jobs.
  
  Many kids graduating from public high schools here would have a hard time succeeding in college because they don't have the foundation they need.  And that's if they haven't already lost hope of every going to college in the first place.  So now politicians and their business cohorts have produced the next crop of workers with few job options. 
  

  

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  levioosa member

  

  February 1

  I was lucky enough to go to a nice catholic college prep school on scholarship and the education difference was stark to what I could have received at the local public high school I was assigned to (at the time, now there are more options). The local high school near me also had a very very bad gang presence and daily violence so I’m sure my education was also helped by the fact I wasn’t stressed out by that. That being said, not all private schools are equal, same as with public schools. The public schools in Palos Verdes and Beverly Hills are beyond in terms of resources compared to even a lot of private schools. I was also lucky that for some reason our particular Catholic school had a lot of liberal teachers and no one really censored them while I attended so the education (religious propaganda classes aside) was overall pretty well rounded and rigorous. Truly most of college was much easier than high school. Later on they got a conservative school board and the nun who ran the school passed away and then they fired a bunch of amazing teachers. 

  
  

  
  

  

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  short+sassy member

  

  February 1

  levioosa said:

  I was lucky enough to go to a nice catholic college prep school on scholarship and the education difference was stark to what I could have received at the local public high school I was assigned to (at the time, now there are more options). The local high school near me also had a very very bad gang presence and daily violence so I’m sure my education was also helped by the fact I wasn’t stressed out by that. That being said, not all private schools are equal, same as with public schools. The public schools in Palos Verdes and Beverly Hills are beyond in terms of resources compared to even a lot of private schools. I was also lucky that for some reason our particular Catholic school had a lot of liberal teachers and no one really censored them while I attended so the education (religious propaganda classes aside) was overall pretty well rounded and rigorous. Truly most of college was much easier than high school. Later on they got a conservative school board and the nun who ran the school passed away and then they fired a bunch of amazing teachers. 

  That's a good point to, which is why I would never say it's an "across the board" thing that kids should only go to public schools.
  
  I grew up in a posh, wealthy town.  We had very good public schools and I know I was fortunate in that way.  My parents didn't have a lot of money.  They were just lucky they bought their house in 1970, which was a few years before real estate exploded in So. CA.
  
  It's a frustrating tug of war.  The real answer is for all public schools to be safe and have an excellent educational program.  But that's a far cry from reality in many places.  And when they don't, parents who can afford it send their kids to private school.  But the more kids who go to private school, the less money and influence there is for public schools.  
  
  Another example of the disparity is my ex-b/f who was born and raised in NOLA.  His parents scrimped and saved to send him to a private high school.  His college fund from them was $0.  Because all that money they could have saved for college, had to be sacrificed so he could get a solid foundational education.
  
  In places that have good public schools, parents don't have to do that and children have a better chance to afford higher education.

  

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