Save Your Money - Go Public

I'm chipping my pen out of the ice to talk to you parents out there.

Don't pay for your child's K-12 schooling.  Save your money for college. 

You see, yesterday I went to a birthday party of an old college friend.  It ended up being like a class reunion, and we spent a bit of time reminiscing old times and catching up on new times.

The conversation that caused my current meltdown was with my friend Rick, who was proudly saying that his 7th grade son had escaped going to the local public middle school in favor of a $30,000 a year private school.  (And, I might add, his wife later complained that (1) they don't have enough money to go to Europe, and (2) they won't be able to afford college.  Hmmm....)

Anyway, I could figure out why they didn't want their boy going to that particular school.  It's a large middle school, with almost 1,000 kids.  It has a reputation in the area (the affluent part of our city) for not being the safest school (although when looking at suspensions and expulsion data, it is much safer than many or most middle schools in the district).  And the state testing scores leave something to be desired.

Rick bragged about the million-dollar-per-classroom science lab they had set up in the private school.  And also about a particular math teacher who worked during lunches and helped their son raise his math scores.  I suppose those are good reasons to spend your child's college fund on middle and high school.   ...crickets...not.  (I didn't even want to mention the number of teachers at my apparently horrible public school that spend their lunch time, recess, and after school to help kids who need that extra push.  Oh, and they do it unpaid.)

Well, I had a lot to say about this, but I hadn't seen Rick in a long time and I didn't want to have a heated discussion with him at our friend's birthday party.  So I'm going to say it here instead.

A few points.

1.  Look at the data.  The public middle school they abandoned had sub-par English testing scores and very weak math scores.  Why?  When you look at the demographics of the student population, about 60% of them come from economically disadvantaged homes.  Most of those students did not make it into advanced math classes at the 7th and 8th grade levels (where most students scored proficient).  And only 40% of those kids were proficient in English (don't forget that they make up 60% of the total student population).  It's hard to argue that being economically disadvantaged does not affect your test performance.  And if you can afford $30,000 per year for middle and high school, you are probably not economically disadvantaged.  But I'm just guessing.

I would like to add here that, even though this school is in an affluent part of the city, 60% of the kids are economically disadvantaged.  Why? Because the affluent families are sending their kids elsewhere, to private schools.  It's the great brain drain.

2. There are other public schools out there.  I looked at a map of magnet schools in the area (and didn't even look at charter schools, which are also public and free).  My friends had plenty of choice with regards to middle schools for their child.  I'm wondering if they missed the boat on the magnet application and charter lotteries.  But I didn't ask.


I'd like to add that I'm not a big fan of charters, but for terrified parents who want a "safe" learning environment for their child, charters are a decent and free option. 

3. What exactly do you want from your child's school experience? That includes college, you know.

Now, I'm not going to argue with anyone who says that our school district is a mess. It is.  A real mess. Serious mess.  Our district with more than 600,000 students really needs to be broken up into small pieces and reworked from the ground up.

But, there are a lot of excellent schools in our district with excellent teachers.  Yeah, you'll find not-so-great teachers at every school, just like you find not-so-great employees at any work situation.  And okay, some schools don't have the best test scores, but if you read my previous post on that, there's a high correlation between student performance on tests and parent education level.  If you have a college degree, don't worry.  Your kid will probably do just fine.  


If you are looking too closely at testing scores and listening to the media about how schools are failing--STOP!  Do some research.  Look at the data.  Take a look at those tests, while you're at it.  There is a grand manipulation going on by corporate raiders of education, like the Gates and Broad people, who think that a corporate model fits in education.  It doesn't.  Use your educated brain, look at the demographics, and figure it out.  Don't be one of those people who runs scared from public education because you think it will ruin your child.  And I advise you read The Death and Life of the Great American School System by Diane Ravitch--It might put things in historical perspective for you.  

However, if your local school still doesn't cut it, try applying to a magnet or charter school.  It's free.  And maybe then, you'll have enough money to send your little precious to college.