Because I’m also a teacher who has many, many qualms about not just the public schools specifically, but schools in general. It’s a case of knowing enough to be worried, while most of my political stripe don’t know as much. We aren’t living the dream of good public education and I’m not willing to sacrifice my children’s realities to my political ideals.

Race and school is a vital factor too–ie: Black children underperforming and having low expectations from schools and being asssessed as problems early on, on the basis of race.

We can’t afford the kind of progressive private school I’d insist on and homeschooling means we never have to consider school districts in moves which is a factor speedily becoming uber relevant for us.

I grew up down the road from where you live, in one of the snootiest suburbs. The public school education education I got was fantastic. My classmates? Not so much. All white, upper middle class and so damn snooty to anyone who was remotely different.

Your hood is a little more diverse than that place is, it seems. Maybe even a lot more diverse. For us, if we had access to a school as good as the one I went to, minus a good chunk of the snooty-ness, that’s where my daughter would go.

Unfortunately, we’ve learned that our neighborhood school is 70% Spanish-speaking and the focus of the school is on improving the students’ English skils.

Which is totally great as far as diversity goes and absolutely serves the needs of most of the neighborhood, but sucks for my kid. She’s a native English speaker without the language challenges that her peers in our neighborhood have.

Given that, she’ll most likely be attending a private school 20 miles north of us that teaches Chinese and English.

But, if we were in your situation, we’d probably lean towards the local schools, at least through elementary.

I really think that the benefits around middle school age would be great.

I went to an all girls high school and LOVED it. My best friends from high school are still my best friends today. I don’t think this had a thing to do with private vs. public, but still feel so lucky to have them. I have wonderful memories of both grade school and of high school. My grade school experience was amazing – and that was all about the school. I would love to send my daughter – but it is pretty far out of my price range. She would be the fourth generation of our family to attend – so that kind of bums me out.

I was never the poorest or the wealthiest kid in the class. I remember who was though. In grade school it was not a big deal. In highschool it was a little bit bigger of a concern. But it was more about what kind of a kid you were.

One of my concerns with our daughter is also about choosing a school with a diverse student body. Most private schools are not as diverse as the public schools in our area. I really believe that a school is what you make of it. I think a person can get a great education at either type of school if they work at it. I think class sizes in private schools may often be smaller. I also think that depending on the private school – the facilities may be quite a bit nicer. We have a private school up the street though that has pretty scant facilities. It is supposed to be a great school – and the tuition reflects that reputation. I have also heard that kids coming out of it have no basic math skills. Yikes!

It seems to me that you can find any type of situation out there – good school, high tuition, bad school, high tuition, fabulous public school, rotten public school. There are several girls from my highschool class that hated our school. There was also a class below mine that was awful – personalities clashed, constant arguing. I would have hated highschool if I had been in that class. There are so many factors involved. I guess you have to make the best choice for your family and keep your fingers crossed.

The one regret I have about being sent to private schools now is when people ask me where I went to school – which is a popular question in the city I live in. I know that the peson asking is trying to attach a label to me. I also know the label I’m going to get when I answer. I loved both my primary and secondary schools and am proud to have attended. But I hate it when I am asked that question. People automatically turn up their noses and say “oh” – as if they have just decided I am a huge snob. It drives me nuts. I usually try and avoid the question and NEVER ask it myself.