It's completely up to the parent whether or not they put their kids in public, private, or home school. I'm just writing this post, mainly because I have a lot of friends who have been complaining about the public education system and I can't count the number of times I've heard someone say: "If I ever have children I'm going to put them in private school / homeschool them." Being a public school teacher, while I can understand their sentiments, especially knowing a few teachers who probably aren't providing the best education from the experiences I've had in a few public schools, it still sometimes makes me feel like they're saying I'm failing children in some way simply by teaching at a public school. And from my experiences, many private schools are no better and often worse (depending on the private school of course). Do you hear this a lot? How does it make you feel (if you're a public school teacher)? How do you respond?
There is a lot to this and part of it is caused by teachers. Teachers are voicing their opinion about how bad the state testing is and how education has been dumbed down because of it. Therefore, if the vocal teachers and unions are screaming about how damaging the laws and regulations are on education and those same laws and regulations apply, why would parents want to put their child in the public education in which teachers and unions are saying are being ruined by state testing. Yes. I've heard many parents say things like this. What I tell them is do what they feel is best for their family but make sure if you choose homeschool you have a good homeschool support network in place because homeschooling is difficult. It doesn't bother me if families want to choose education other than public education. It is their choice which I uphold higher than the government requirements. I think what is more telling is a public school teacher that refuses to put their child in public education for reasons other than religious reasons.
I hear a lot of it... but it is mainly for religious reasons. I have taught in a private christian school and now work at a STEM public school in a big city.
In the area where I live, if my child did not get into a magnet school, I would send them to a private school. Several reasons factor into this statement. One is that the school we are zoned for has a year-round schedule, and I would want my child on the same schedule as I am. The school you can choose if you don't want year-round has a grade of D, up from an F last year, and does not have high academic standards. I do not like the direction public education is going in this school district, and unless I could get my child at one of the few particular magnet schools, I would want to send him or her to one of the few non-religious private schools, most likely the local Montessori school. Students I get from that school seem able to think through problems, work independently, and cooperate with others in groups, all valuable life skills that I find lacking in students from other schools. If I didn't have to work, I would homeschool at least through kindergarten, and possibly 1st grade, until the curriculum and teaching methods at local public schools begin to match what is developmentally appropriate at that age. I believe in a strong public education system, but I cannot support the current system where I live. The schools are getting better, and there are some big changes coming, but there is far to go before we get there.
As a public school teacher I would not put my kids in public school - at least not in my district. It's like working at McDonald's, once you've seen behind the curtain you can't unsee it.
The community here loves our schools, but budget cuts have ballooned our class sizes. The private schools around here tend to be workbook-dependant unless you search for the few that recognize developmental differences in kids. My kids went to public and thrived.
I agree. A lot of the time when people say this, they're not usually blaming the teachers themselves, but blaming the state system, which they're aware of the faults for because of teacher outcry.
The other part is that many parents know that schools aren't dealing with students with behavior problems very well. They see the behavior of children declining and would rather have their kids in a place that can remove the children with behavior problems from the school. Now, before anyone comes back and says public school can't do that, it just isn't true. There is much more they can do and should do.
I agree that many parents are unhappy about behavior management issues. I wouldn't want my child in a class where other students regularly act out, cause disruptions, behave in an unsafe way, or otherwise prevent my child from learning.
I don't hear it so much where I teach or live. I'm happy with my daughter's district right now. I'm hearing the opposite from my teachers. The new state assessment is more rigours. They are voicing their opinion on how many times students are tested, but not on the content being 'dumbed down'. And yes, I think that is very telling or paying for them to transfer to another public school district. Right now I'm happy with my daughter's school. She's in elementary right now and I'm happy with the middle school she will go to in a couple of years; however, I haven't heard many good things about the high school and so then I might consider pulling her to another HS or private school.
That's kind of disappointing.... I'd send my kids to the school I teach at in a heartbeat, based on the teachers, administrations, standards, etc, but sadly, I wouldn't want him/her to be around a good number of the students I teach.
I have always taught in private school and never considered sending my children to public school. In the beginning, they went to Catholic school due to religious reasons and public education was always lacking something where I live. But you also have to be careful as to what private school you send them to because the private school that I taught as the last 2 years was horrible and I would have sent my kids to public school before sending them to that private school. There was no rigor in the curriculum--actually there was no curriculum--everyone taught whatever they felt like teaching. Athletes were not required to attend class but you still had to give them an A or a B even though they turned in nothing and many did not take any tests. I quit but they probably would not have renewed my contract because every football player that I taught had an F in my class and I refused to not give them a zero for anything that they did not complete. We also had many students who had been expelled from local public schools and their parents did not want then to go to an alternative school and the parents had money so the school enrolled them.
I teach in a public school and I love my job. I still plan to send my kids to a private school. The public system I live in (don't work there) is AWFUL. I love where I live though. I also appreciate the religious morals and classes they teach. I'm the product of both systems. I loved my Catholic high school. We were very unified. ETA: I would send them to my school but only for HS.
I've only worked at public schools. I personally don't hear parents say it, but I wouldn't feel anything either way. That's their perogative, whatever they want to do. I attended private school from K-7 grades & I liked it myself. It was an excellent start & foundation for my academic career. Regarding if I'd send my kids to private school, it sure isn't out of the question! Homeschooling, don't know about that. ANY learning setting can of course be made into a great experience.
The private schools I've worked at have been tuition factories. The owners knew nothing about pedagogy-they just thought it would be a good business to run. And it was totally a business. I wish parents knew that there is huge motivation in tuition-around here the averge is 20k a year. There is not much incentive to be choosy about the students you accept when each one comes with such a huge payday. They don't 'label' kids spec ed, but that is worse-students don't get the support and help they need, teachers aren't qualified or supported and directors hire and fire at whim. I shudder to think of my child in that environment. I'm lucky because people move to my area specifically for the schools. It's like an edutopia here. My husband went to the elementary I'm teaching at, and I know he's dying to have Henry walk these halls as well. We moved down here for that reason, I was blessed to get a job here and Henry will be going k-12 in our district.
I'm going to add that not all private schools are like the ones I work at. That has just been my experience in my area. I've heard nothing but amazing things about the school AliceACC works at, and if I knew for a fact that the private school was actually a SCHOOL and not a business, then of course I would consider sending my child there. But I haven't found that in my area yet.
I've heard people say this quite often. Depending on who it is and why they are saying it, I will encourage them to consider all of their options. I feel like a lot of people who say this don't really know what they are talking about. I fully intend on homeschooling my children, especially at first. At some point I will probably give them a choice of where they want to go to school. However, my reasons for homeschooling are a lot deeper than just being dissatisfied with elements of public schooling.
I hate to say the district I work in is failing our students because I know the teachers in my district are working HARD with some real difficult kids; but, statistics show that our district is pretty much at the bottom of the state barrel. Thus, if I actually lived in the city where I teach, I would not want to send my kids to the public schools here. No way. Now, I would have no problem sending my kids to the public schools in the area where I live. When people say they prefer private schools to public schools; I say, "I understand" - which I completely do.
There really aren't many options here. There are no private schools. There are a few homeschooling parents, but they often struggle because there aren't really any resources here. They're just teaching on their own without the benefits of things that can be found in larger towns.
We don't have children yet, but are planning on sending our kids to public school. We will be taking that into HIGH consideration when we eventually settle down in a specific area, and especially when we eventually buy a house. I won't be looking for top tier "best in the state" type of schools (since that usually just means it's a rich area more than anything else), but just a good set of neighborhood schools for our kids to attend.
While I teach in a private school and like it, I don't like how this statement usually is said. Parents often say it not because they like private schools, but because they feel all public schools are bad. I don't believe all public schools are bad. Many are very good. I do think private schools offer some unique benefits such as a religious education and a smaller school. I also feel private schools have done a much better job of not selling out to testing (which we are still required to do for accreditation.) I worked at an excellent public school, and I will never forget it. If parents want an excellent school they must look beyond the label of "private", "public", and "charter". Also no schools are closing faster than private schools. Charter schools are really putting a large dent in them. I am not sure how many private schools will be left in 20 years.
I would not hesitate to send any future kids of mine to any of the school districts in my county except for the city school district. There are school districts that my bf and I like over others so when we buy a house that will be an important factor. If I was in area where the public schools weren't good or were dangerous I would send my children to private schools or homeschool if I didn't have to work.
I live and teach in a city which has a bad rap in the media about the schools. In this district there are schools I would love to get my child into and schools I would not ever send my child to. There are schools in between too. With the many schools in this district there are plenty I would be happy to have my children attend. I also think the decision and reasons behind the decision are the parent's choice and I am fairly indifferent about why the decision is made. The one thing that does irritate me is the parents who do not teach and have their kid in private school who keep posting critiques of public schools on Facebook and places like that while also posting stuff about the private school their child attends. A serious give me a break! It reminds me of a much poorer Bill Gates.
People make lots and lots and lots of assumptions about what it will be like when they have kids... or when they become teachers or when they find their significant othere or whatever.The realities are sometimes vastly different from those assumptions. If we could swing it then, yes, absolutely, I would have my 3 kids in either my school or my husband's. Not because there's anything wrong with the public school education they're receiving. But because of the religious background, the atmosphere, the extra curricular activities. But three kids times $8,000+ per year is simply more than we can afford. I agree with so many here: there are good and bad schools of all types-- public, private, religious. People who don't know what they're talking about will make blanket statements about one as opposed to another. Those blanket statements tend to be ignorant.
You hit the nail on the head, Alice. People do make lots of assumptions about how things will be when "they" are in a given situation, only to find out the reality of that situation is much different than expected once they are actually in it. People also tend to make blanket statements about issues based on media snippets or soundbytes rather than actually looking into all the factors of an issue for themselves. As a result, the blanket statements do tend to be ignorant and reflect the LACK of thought that has gone into it. As for the statement in the OP, I put people who make statements like that in the same category as those who parrot political rhetoric statements as "truths". All it shows is the complete LACK of independent thought that have actually put into such statements. All 3 of my boys attend public school and I've been very satisfied (for the most part) with the education they have received.
It all depends for me. Both BF and I attended public and private schools as kids. There is one really fantastic private school in the area... with a price tag we'll never afford unless we win the lotto. The school district where we live has an fantastic reputation. Every parent is really happy with the education their kid receives. The district where I work... well, I'll be honest. I would have to be very, very choosy about which school my kid went to. Some schools are amazing; others, not so much. Then again, a lot can happen in a few years. In my dream world, however, I would be a stay-at-home mom and homeschool. Just way too much testing going on in my opinion.
This is true for the division I teach in. It's a small rural town and there aren't options. I live an hour away and within walking distance to some fabulous public schools that I would send my own kids to (if I had any).
My fiancee and I always joke that we want to send our kids to our respective high schools. We went to single-sex Catholic schools in cities four hours apart. Without having attended public schools myself, my biggest problem is that I find them to big and impersonal, not that I feel the quality of education is significantly worse. I had some terrible teachers at private school, especially in elementary school, but I enjoyed the sense of community that came with a smaller school. There are a few private secular schools around here and if we can afford them, that's probably what we'll choose.
Ravin, I'm in central OH and my school graduates about 60 kids a year (public). The private high school I graduated from graduates about 200. Both have a strong sense of community. I think schools are largely what the surrounding community makes them.
My sister makes derogatory comments about public schools all the time. Every time there's an article about a teacher doing bad things, she always comments, "... and that's why I homeschool my kids," or something else to that effect. They are her kids, and she can choose to educate them as she chooses, but I am always amused by this, since my sister is a high school drop out. I'm always curious as to what kind of education her kids are actually getting.
I am a public school teacher and I just toured the private school on Thursday. I want him to go to the private school, because I work in the public school. Otherwise, I'd be blissfully unaware. He's only in third grade, and can't focus in class because of the misbehavior. He also has gotten in 4 fights this year, because he refuses to allow others to bully him. He hasn't been suspended, because every time the other person started with/hit him first. My class is fine. But, what I see in the hallways at my school scares me to death.
There are several administrators who live within our district boundaries. All of their children attend private schools. If I lived in district, I would probably explore the option of private school.
This is an excellent reminder. :thumb: It is really grating to me when people say they will homeschool because schools are so TERRIBLE, etc etc. I feel like a lot of people who make blanket judgments have no actual experience to base them on. They just believe whatever they hear from the media, etc. I went to public school for K-8 and private school for high school. I have no problem with either. I just don't think we will ever be able to afford private. I'm also uncomfortable with some of the extremely negative attitudes toward public school I have encountered in private schools, as well. I think it might be very uncomfortable for me, as a public school teacher, to send my children to private school if there were a lot of attitudes like that.
Exactly. Most Admin in my district, as well as those working at the BoEd, who live in the city where I work would never send their kids to our schools.
*Raises hand* I was private-schooled until HS, and I also began my career teaching in a privates school. If I am still in this area when I have children, they are DEFINITELY attending a private school!!
