Public School w/extras Vs. Private School

[NY Disney fan]

Let's say a parent has $10,000 a year to spend on child's education. Which statement would you think best reflects the better choice for those funds:

1.) Use $10,000 toward private/parochial school for child. You get what you pay for and the child has a chance at a better all-around education.

2.) Public School: might be free but can use extra money to allocate toward private music/sports/dance/tutoring lessons so the child has best of both worlds.

3.) Either choice would work for a child's success as long as parents take either choice seriously.

 

[crisi]

Around here $10k a year won't get you a really good private school - double that for high school and you MIGHT get them into a college prep high school. You'd be better off with a good public school and $10k in enrichment.

 

[scrapquitler]

Let's say a parent has $10,000 a year to spend on child's education. Which statement would you think best reflects the better choice for those funds:

1.) Use $10,000 toward private/parochial school for child. You get what you pay for and the child has a chance at a better all-around education.

2.) Public School: might be free but can use extra money to allocate toward private music/sports/dance/tutoring lessons so the child has best of both worlds.

3.) Either choice would work for a child's success as long as parents take either choice seriously.

Choice 3.

Honestly, if you choose private school, you're still going to need more money for the extras...sports, music lessons, extra things might be more expensive at Private school than in public schools. And if I had the money, I'd rather save it to spend on college.

Besides that, where I live, $10K isn't enough to pay for private schools. They are all in the $14-$16K range, unless you are going to a Catholic elementary school and a member of the parish (in the $4k range).

 

[NY Disney fan]

Around here $10k a year won't get you a really good private school -

I wrote "toward tuition", in my original post.

 

[Marionnette]

Let's say a parent has $10,000 a year to spend on child's education. Which statement would you think best reflects the better choice for those funds:

1.) Use $10,000 toward private/parochial school for child. You get what you pay for and the child has a chance at a better all-around education.

2.) Public School: might be free but can use extra money to allocate toward private music/sports/dance/tutoring lessons so the child has best of both worlds.

3.) Either choice would work for a child's success as long as parents take either choice seriously.

There are excellent public schools with ample enrichment programs. I never spent anything close to $10K in a year for additional activities for my 3 children. My property taxes, OTOH, are extremely high in order to support the schools. So, I would say that it is a trade off.

I really don't think that one can make a blanket statement about the advantages/disadvantages of a public school education. It varies from one district to another. As do the academic opportunities available to students in private schools.

 

[Planogirl]

I think that it depends on the public schools. Many of them are great and others not so much.

 

[Anthony1971]

This is going to be a personal choice.....
My township has very good schools and we are zoned for the highest rated ones as our home value and taxes reflect.... see above for my point
We have several reasons as to why but somone will take offense so I will not list them.
My answer would be private school to anyone..... for now at least as there are so many budget cuts and angry teachers (NOT ALL)...
Once the budget problems are resolved I go back to my personal reasons

 

[GinnyEmma]

If the public school is decent, I'd say public, and travel. Not disney travel, but real travel. South america, europe, asia, etc. Of course across the us, also!

And some sort of music lesson.

Both things make all the difference in the life, education and outlook of a child.

 

[fakereadhed]

1) The school day is a long time for a child. I prefer to have more say in the educational program and values taught to my child than showing up at PTO meetings and school board meetings. Private lets you pick exactly what you want for your child. Never thought I would ever be behind that option. After two teens I have seen what you get for your tax dollars and sadly it leaves a lot to be desired. I'm sure there are great public schools, but you probably wouldn't be questioning them if that was the case.

I used to coupon to save for WDW. Now I do it to save for private school for DS. We are going less often(skipped last year entirely) so that tells everything about how important I think it is.

 

[princessmom29]

If the public school is decent, I'd say public, and travel. Not disney travel, but real travel. South america, europe, asia, etc. Of course across the us, also!

And some sort of music lesson.

Both things make all the difference in the life, education and outlook of a child.

I would agree with the travel idea, but I don'tthink music is the be all and end all for every child. I had music lessons form a nearly age and never really loved it or was good at it. It didn't do a lot for me, but dance was my confidence builder and my creative expression.

 

[GinnyEmma]

Math and music are connected in the brain, and one can go anywhere and follow music. I don't think everyone is meant to be an accomplished musician. ymmv

 

[cvjw]

It depends. My kids go to great schools - we hand picked the area that we live in based on the schools. My older DS goes to a high school that is an Academy for Mathematics, Science and Technology. It is consistently ranked as one of the best schools in the State of Georgia, and it doesn't cost me a dime except property taxes.

 

[Donaldswife]

Let's say a parent has $10,000 a year to spend on child's education. Which statement would you think best reflects the better choice for those funds:

1.) Use $10,000 toward private/parochial school for child. You get what you pay for and the child has a chance at a better all-around education.

2.) Public School: might be free but can use extra money to allocate toward private music/sports/dance/tutoring lessons so the child has best of both worlds.

3.) Either choice would work for a child's success as long as parents take either choice seriously.

I think 3. is accurate for most families in the suburbs in the United States. As long as the public school is pretty good either choice should work, it just depends on your comfort level.

We personally chose option 2. We could afford private school without any extras, or public school and any extras she might be interested in. My DD9 gets to go to a few different enrichment camps during the summer to explore new interests, she is active in gymnastics and girl scouts, she has had a sesaon of soccer, she took tennis lessons one summer, and is able to try anything else she desires and we do not have to stress about the cost. It works for us as we have a very good (not excellent, but definitely above average) public elementary school a mile away from our house.

Also, being in school with the neighborhood kids gives her a greater sense of community in our neighborhood and more opportunities to befriend children who live in the area.

I will say, if the schools were average or below average, I would ditch the extras and pay for private education until we could move to a better school district. Luckily for us that has not been the case.

 

[princessmom29]

Math and music are connected in the brain, and one can go anywhere and follow music. I don't think everyone is meant to be an accomplished musician. ymmv

Some studies claim that yes, but I don't think it is universally true that kids who study music are better in math. The point I was making is that I don't think every child NEEDS or should even attempt to study music. Some kids are naturally talented at other things.

 

[GinnyEmma]

As I said, your mileage may vary. I don't think that one must have a natural talent to benefit from something. I made all my kids take a language even though dome were better than others. My ability to read music didn't make me a musician. But I can go into any church or bar in the world and contribute, lol.

An understanding of music makes travel even better. It was written as a universal language.

The op mentioned music, and educational opportunities. You liked dance. I can't imagine liking it.

 

[MomToOne]

Depends on the quality of public schools in your area. And the quality of the private school. And your child's needs. Private school does not automatically equal better. And what's better for one child may not be for another. My brother actually sends his two boys to completely different private schools, based on their individual needs. My grandparents did the same with my father and his brothers.

I send my child to private, but basically because I have to - our assigned school is awful (the school is in a gang-ridden neighborhood and has lots of other problems), and we haven't been able to get a slot at any of the other schools in our district that are acceptable to me. I'm not a parent who thinks my child needs to be in a super-high-test-scores school, but I do want a safe, supportive environment for my child. So private school it was. But it requires A LOT of sacrafices to come up with that tuition every month - so she doesn't get as many (hardly any to tell the truth) after school activities.

Life is a series of trade-offs, weighing one need/want vs. another - but only you can decide what is best for you and your family.

 

[ccgirl]

Let's say a parent has $10,000 a year to spend on child's education. Which statement would you think best reflects the better choice for those funds:

1.) Use $10,000 toward private/parochial school for child. You get what you pay for and the child has a chance at a better all-around education.

2.) Public School: might be free but can use extra money to allocate toward private music/sports/dance/tutoring lessons so the child has best of both worlds.

3.) Either choice would work for a child's success as long as parents take either choice seriously.

It really depends on the child/situation. I went with the parochial track due to the religious education. My DD couldn't get that in public no matter how much $$ I spend. I know I can pay for CCD but I wanted something more. I also like the structure, morals, values and uniforms. It is a small school where they actually listen to the parents. It provides a wonderful academic education to boot! There are a few children in our neighborhood that go to the same school (that we carpool with) and she participates in town activities (soccer, swim club) to meet other friends. They have music as part of her everyday education so no need to pay "extra" for it.

If I had to spend extra $$ on tutoring because I didn't feel my child was getting the education they needed, I would not consider sending my child there.

That's just my opinion though.

 

[gerald]

Have two kids in private school...The cost is $10,000 for the pair...It is a NCLB Blue ribbon school and tests in the top 10% in the Iowa's every year. All the neighbors kids go to the local public school. I can tell you that my kids are farther along then the public school kids. We live in a upper middle class area with decent public schools.

We also have to commute the kids to school each day as its about 20 miles away. As long as we have the financial ability the kids will never go to public school.

 

[MinnieForMe]

We have a child who wants to major in music in college. In his situation, the public schools here have stronger music departments than the local private schools. We also supplement with private lessons, sports, etc..

For our second child, it will also be public because he wants to be career military and wants a Jr. ROTC program before he enters into college. Again, no local private school offers Jr. ROTC.

Our third child is still in kindergarten so we have no idea whether she will go to public or private high school.

 

[scootch]

You have to figure out what your area has to offer. OUr public schools are very crowded and our private catholic school only costs $2200 with small class size and majority of parents with the same values as we have. Thus, an easy choice for us. I think there are some good public schools out there, but not in all areas.