Private or public schools for kids - thoughts?

My son will entering first grade soon and am having a hard time deciding on private school or public school. I know the horror stories of public and around here they are in the news almost daily, but what is consensus on private vs public? Especially at this age - does anyone have experience with this? Thanks in advance!

 

If we stay in the same house we live in now my daughter will go to private school. We are looking a building a house where the public school systems are very highly ranked. That will be the only way my daughter will go to public school.

 

Private if you can afford it, Public if you can't. Personally I go with private just because my child is more well taken care and attentive to. It's a complicate situation for parents everywhere...

 

I feel its all in what public school systems you use we have a few here in Colorado that are ranked higher than private schools in the area. Which is why it will determine where my wife and I build our next house.

 

Appreciate your answer! For at least the next 4 years, we are going to have to live in our present house due to work and the fact that it has been a rental for the past 6 - meaning that we would pay some serious taxes if we leave before the 3 year mark...After that, we are planning on moving to an outlying county with a much, much better school system. I just wonder if private would be that much better for 1st through 3rd or 4th grades. There are some true idiots in the system, not to mention the thug POS's that go to those schools...

 

I think its a good idea if the public system is not very good and you can afford it. The way we look at it is we can build a new house in a different area for a few hundred more a month or we will pay a few hundred extra to stay where we are at and pay for private school. We want a newer neighborhood and a newer house. I think early learning is very important to get right because it lays the ground work for their studys as they get older. This is my opinion though.

 

I believed it is crucial at these grades that all kids develope their learning process, I would expose them to the "good environment" first..

 

Public whether you can afford it or not.

However, your comparing apples and oranges. There are very good public school districts and very bad ones. The same goes for private schools, good and bad. If you can afford it, and the private school is significantly better than the public available, go private. But the reverse is also true minus the cost part.

In all of my experiences public schools better ready people for the real world. Private schools can at times create helpless why me people.

If the goal is a good college education, both get there and come out the same imo. Some with a better understanding of the real world. (public)

 

In before Larry says vouchers

 

What he said. I work for a private school. I would compare them as schools not public -vs- private. Also compare what values are important to you and whether they share these goals.

 

Great points there...pros and cons are alway there. But whatever you choose put some thought into it, research, talk to some of your neighbor who have kids that attent private and public school....I'm sure they more then happy to talk to you...

 

Yeah but in my case the public school is rated a 1 on a scale of 1-10. 10 being the best there is no way in hell I will be sending my daughter to a school rated 1.

 

Just who would I go/research schools? Of course the administrators are going to say theirs is great with no problem. However, my number one concern is my son and his well being. I don't know about the elementary schools in the area, but the middle and high schools are just plain bad. In fact, in one of the local middle schools agirl stabbed another one in class recently...

It just pisses me off to no end as to what kind of shit he may face. I was a teacher for 6 years and I know what goes on. He isn't in the first grade yet so I really can't teach him how to not take any shit but at the same time not to go overboard. It just seems - and I may be wrong - that some of the public schools are much more concerned with numbers than students. I dont know...

 

I think public is fine. It depends on the ethos you instil in your kid. he/she could go to the highest rated private school in the country but have horrible time management and commitment issues, or go to a mid level public school and learn more with a good mindset

the public school I went to is a "coffee farm" low-income public school that wasnt nationally praised or won any fancy awards....and it's an old school. even my dad went there 40 years ago

but my friends/classmates that went there with a good work ethic did fine. Two of them are working for NASA, two went to Boeing, one is now a nuclear engineer for the Navy, and several went to ivy league schools...

 

It's hard for sho'. Your school system ain't much different from mine. Up here we got 6 or 7 year old brought gun to school, and public school at the worse points, probably worse in the nation. I don't know what to tell you E'.

 

Very, very true - what we instill in our kids goes a long way. However, on the other hand the bullying/fear/whatever the little shithead thugs do can also have a very bad effect on kids, especially young ones. I just want whats best for him...

 

What sucks ass about making this decision is that you cannot opt out of paying school district taxes that fund public school and it's waste if you decide to send your kids to private school unless you rent a house, lease a house or live in an apartment. If you own your home then you get screwed paying for private and public schools if you want to send them to private. Or you have no kids but pay for someone else's to go to public school. People that utilize the public schools the most aren't even paying to fund them. That's the kind of shit that's so wrong with this country. People using and benefitting from shit the most have no skin in the game.

All that aside, I would still pay my school taxes and send kids to private unless your public school district is very high rated. Renting or leasing is a way to save money for college in some weird twisted way I suppose.

 

There are definitely pros and cons for both. In my experience it comes down to the teachers and the parents of the children attending the school. Another huge factor is your own involvement as a parent; the schools systems anymore rely so much on the parents to help educate. So regardless of school, it’s truly up to the parents as they ultimately determine the child’s success as well as the success of the school. To think different is being ignorant. Some of the smartest kids I have met who possess both street smarts and book smarts have come from public schools.

Here’s my problem with private schools. I won’t mention the issues with public schools since most are already very familiar.
- The teachers are often under paid which can lead to lack of motivation/poor attitude towards teaching.
- Parents are often uninvolved because they just assume private schools provide the best education and so their involvement is not necessary.
- Kids are a lot of the times spoiled.
- Private schools often shelter kids from reality

 

Use the Google.

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools

http://www.greatschools.org

http://www.education-consumers.org

I purposely moved to an area with the best public schools. As the previous poster mentioned, I think the diversity in public schools helps prepare your kids for the real world. The real world ain't always pretty. And I can't afford private school.

 

All about the tradeoffs.........