I think the vast majority of them are public but not all of them fall under the public school's authority. NitaX can probably speak to this more conclusively than I can. All I know is that I've had many discussions with her about it and the charters in my state/area are not at all like the charters in hers.
downtoearth - Each state handles charter school funding and reporting authority differently. Public charter schools do receive public dollars and do not charge tuition. That's the primary difference between charters and private schools. Any public school student is welcome to attend a public charter school.
With respect to authority, in TN, a charter is authorized to operate by the local education agency (school districts), BUT, the charter has greater autonomy. So, once it opens, the school district is hands off. The district only has authority in regards to 1) reauthorizing the charter or 2) closing the charter school for fiscal malfeasance or poor academic performance.
So, if you feel like your kids' teacher is the suck or you have issue with the overall administration of a charter school, in TN you have to take those issues to the charter governing board not the school board. Now, that may be different for other states because charter laws vary widely.
Thanks. Yeah, I think this is sort of how it was in CO. The school board had some authority, but you're right that the school was basically run by a governing board separate from the school board. The board was made up primarily of the most affluent parents in the charter - so my complaint was that the principal and outreach coordinator (aka VP) catered to the board's wants/needs and not everyone else's concerns or needs/wants. I hadn't thought about the teacher's part of this and the hiring/firing process.
Post by omgzombies on Jan 26, 2015 14:43:23 GMT -5
We're currently looking at public all the way, but our kids aren't old enough to be in the school system yet, so we'll see. We moved here in part because of the good schools, so I'm hoping there won't be a need for private.
If we did private, it would most likely occur in high school. I went to private schools in elementary and middle school, and a deplorable public high school, while DH went to public schools for elementary and middle and went on to a fabulous little private Quaker school. In the end we both agree on the importance of a well rounded high school education, despite completely opposite education paths. I think I can supplement well enough at least in elementary if I find the education to be a little lacking, but once we get to middle and high school I'm out of my depth.
Edited to add: If money were no object at all, I would probably plop them into the Quaker school by us for the entirety of their education. But there are things like retirement and mortgages to consider.
There are no private schools in my city. Well, there are a couple fundy religious schools that charge tuition, but they're not prestigious or good.
We don't have private schools in our county. People think that highly of the schools here and move to this county so their children can attend. I think there are some kids who attend private school in a different county though.
This was how people viewed the school district (in Texas...gasp!) where I grew up. My city didn't even have a private HS until after I graduated. Tuition there is more than university tuition, but the public schools are still really good. There are certainly school districts where I'd sell a kidney to get my kid into private school, but I honestly cannot fathom paying that kind of money for private school when the public school options are so good.
But there is no shortage of shit that rich people will throw money at.
FWIW we chose our private school because it is a very community school, 5 minutes from our house. ATL has a ton of great, excellent private schools, not as many good public schools, and we are lucky one is nearby. I love that he has neighborhood friends from school and ones who go to the public school that he plays soccer with and does swim team with, so he has the best of both.
Right now, public. And for the foreseeable future.
But I'm really, really worried about what school-based budgeting is going to mean for our very solid little elementary that also is home of the district ASD lab (i.e., lots of kids who are expensive to educate -- including my own DD1 with ASD who does not access the lab).
Frankly, with ASD on the table, I really doubt that we have any realistic private options until at least junior high, unless we were to go with an ultra-expensive, SN-only school that would likely not be a good fit for my mainstreamed, high-achieving kid anyway. Once upon a time I would have considered charters, but they're such a mixed bag; I vastly prefer to support my local public schools that must accept every type of student, and I flatly refuse to support any school that would welcome my DD2 who is neurotypical but not my DD1.
I think the vast majority of them are public but not all of them fall under the public school's authority. NitaX can probably speak to this more conclusively than I can. All I know is that I've had many discussions with her about it and the charters in my state/area are not at all like the charters in hers.
downtoearth - Each state handles charter school funding and reporting authority differently. Public charter schools do receive public dollars and do not charge tuition. That's the primary difference between charters and private schools. Any public school student is welcome to attend a public charter school.
With respect to authority, in TN, a charter is authorized to operate by the local education agency (school districts), BUT, the charter has greater autonomy. So, once it opens, the school district is hands off. The district only has authority in regards to 1) reauthorizing the charter or 2) closing the charter school for fiscal malfeasance or poor academic performance.
So, if you feel like your kids' teacher is the suck or you have issue with the overall administration of a charter school, in TN you have to take those issues to the charter governing board not the school board. Now, that may be different for other states because charter laws vary widely.
downtoearth - Each state handles charter school funding and reporting authority differently. Public charter schools do receive public dollars and do not charge tuition. That's the primary difference between charters and private schools. Any public school student is welcome to attend a public charter school.
With respect to authority, in TN, a charter is authorized to operate by the local education agency (school districts), BUT, the charter has greater autonomy. So, once it opens, the school district is hands off. The district only has authority in regards to 1) reauthorizing the charter or 2) closing the charter school for fiscal malfeasance or poor academic performance.
So, if you feel like your kids' teacher is the suck or you have issue with the overall administration of a charter school, in TN you have to take those issues to the charter governing board not the school board. Now, that may be different for other states because charter laws vary widely.
In theory, at least.
Well, in TN, you'll get in. LOL But, that's because charter schools here are predominately black, and we've already established that black = bad, so any public school student can attend! LOL
Thanks @majorwife. Any idea about diversity with regard to socioeconomic status? I'm concerned about both racial and socioeconomic diversity. But honestly more about the socioeconomic diversity. I also realize that's my responsibility as a parent to expose my child to the world and teach him the values that I want to instill in him. Parenting is such a big responsibility!!
Post by Black Lavender on Jan 26, 2015 15:19:02 GMT -5
All public, all the way. IL's offered to pay for private, but we declined because of the lack of diversity (see below) and we live in a great district and frankly I don't feel like private is worth the $$ in our area.
Diversity breakdown in our current school: White 78% Asian 9% Hispanic 7% Two or more races 4% Black 1%
Diversity at the private school they would have gone to: White 98% Asian 2% Hispanic 0% Two or more races 0% Black 0%
Fact. My tinfoil hat theory is that it's done on purpose so women can't work. I secretly seethe every time they get lumped in with the oh-so-progressive Scandinavian countries and France because no.
That is unreal! For what grades? All of them? Every kid gets let out and taken home for lunch, or something?
We toured the private in the area for Catholic schools open house, but are leaning towards public.
Our town has not as stellar schools as we had hoped, and we are likely to move closer to family later (theoretically), but, assuming we dont, we would consider private high school - there are several nearby that are highly rated and we have had friends attend.
Cost is a factor as is the fact that DH and I did fine/well in public school and then private college, so we prefer public. DS will likely have an IEP starting at 3, so that will also be a factor.
I went to a public grammar school and MH went to a private Catholic school. We each went to a same-sex private Catholic high school, and we met at a public university.
If/when we have kids, we'll likely send them to a public grammar school. High school ... depends on where they want to go and what the school system is like (we probably won't be in this same house once they're school-age, so that's at LEAST five years from now), but we both enjoyed our private HS experiences and what they did for us, and I'd like them to have the same opportunities. Unless we wind up in a district with a really good high school ... I think our current one is just OK. There are some really good ones in neighboring towns.
Post by thecatinthehat on Jan 26, 2015 15:43:13 GMT -5
Private all the way because the public school in our area Is not so great. We can afford it but I can't stop thinking about all the wonderful vacations I could easily spend even a fraction of 40k (2 kids) a year on
All public. We're in an excellent district and sending two kids to private schools would be tough. Also, this is SSie, but my mom sent me to private school for several years for no other reason than her being a snob. 30 years on and it still gives me the icks.
We are doing private Catholic which was my experience growing up as well. We just toured the 3 in our area yesterday and made a final decision. The archdiocese of la has some great schools.
I said all public. Even if money was no issue, I'd rather divert those resources towards extra curricular activities and/or college.
I'm curious: when people say their district schools are "good" or "terrible," what does that mean, exactly? Is that based on the 1-10 score found on some real estate web sites? Actual visits/experience at the school(s)? Issues with the physical facilities or safety?
I find it really difficult to *really* know whether a school is good or terrible. Acing standardized tests in the K-5 crowd is not that compelling. DD's current school (public K-5) is like a dream come true to me but on paper it doesn't look like "the best." It really comes down to the teachers, the other support staff, parents... all people things. How does one assess that without diving in?
We went with the recommendations of other faculty in Hs department, the online ratings and a lot of googling schools in the area. You can get a decent amount of information through basically message board posts from different sites.
That said, even with that amount of research we're very disappointed in the quality of the schools. But having talked to a lot of people now as we've gotten in with the community they still are regarded as better than the other schools. It seems that the schools here just don't live up to my expectations.
The greatschools.org ratings are pretty much entirely based on standardized test scores, so worse than useless.
Mine will go private all the way, unless they want to switch out in middle or high school. I live in Philadelphia and the school district blows. However, there are some good magnet schools that start in 5th and in 9th, so if they want to go there and they get in, I think we would consider sending them.
But I teach at a private (Quaker) school and I love love love having my kids there too. One of them is free; otherwise we could not afford it. It's hard to turn down a free private education, especially bc I think the kids who come out of my school are really well prepared for the world.
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
This is a topic of discussion in our house. DH is set that our kids will attend private school, even though we live in a very good school district. I would be perfectly comfortable with our public schools, but DH feels very strongly about private and has said he will kill himself working to ensure we have the money to send them there. He went to mediocre public schools and feels like private school (the one in particular we will likely send out kids to) will prepare them better to be a mature adult. I worry about our kids being sheltered and not being around kids from diverse backgrounds.
FWIW, some private schools are getting a lot more diverse. It's a priority for a lot of schools. My school is about 45% families of color, a mecca for families with same sex parents as well as transgender students, and is working pretty hard on SES diversity (harder to achieve, IMO).
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
if my kids are having an issue in public school and want to go to private school i'll try to make it happen. otherwise, it's public all the way.
This is pretty much my attitude. We live in a good school district. The public school should be a good option and is definitely our number one choice. It's big enough to offer variety, but not insanely huge, so hopefully not overwhelming (and there are 4 elementary schools, so smaller classes at the lower grades).
If there was an issue that could be addressed by private school or our public school takes a huge turn for the worse, private could be discussed.
I went to public K-8 and a private high school that was better academically than my public school. My husband went to one of those big suburban public school districts for K-12.
Parents of kids on IEPs, how are you finding privates that will take your kid? The only ones I'm aware of are SN specific.
My kids don't have SNs, but my school definitely takes kids with ASD and a variety of learning needs. They are on 504s and we do our best to accommodate. The downside is that most of the teachers are not trained and there can be a learning curve (and there are kids who we just can't make it work with, and that sucks). The upside is our classes are small (my biggest class this year has 14) so I can give a lot of individual attention and work with families in a way I couldn't with 38 kids in my classroom in Philly.
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
All public. I'm happy with our district, although its not the best. I feel strongly that we should be part of our community, and the local school plays into that for me. Also, the only private school near enough to be realistic is Waldorf and that's never happening.
This is a topic of discussion in our house. DH is set that our kids will attend private school, even though we live in a very good school district. I would be perfectly comfortable with our public schools, but DH feels very strongly about private and has said he will kill himself working to ensure we have the money to send them there. He went to mediocre public schools and feels like private school (the one in particular we will likely send out kids to) will prepare them better to be a mature adult. I worry about our kids being sheltered and not being around kids from diverse backgrounds.
My private school was in an urban environment and was more diverse (racially and economically) than my somewhat rural public school district. Except gender-wise. It was all girls, lol. But obviously this depends entirely on the schools in question.
I said all public. Even if money was no issue, I'd rather divert those resources towards extra curricular activities and/or college.
I'm curious: when people say their district schools are "good" or "terrible," what does that mean, exactly? Is that based on the 1-10 score found on some real estate web sites? Actual visits/experience at the school(s)? Issues with the physical facilities or safety?
I find it really difficult to *really* know whether a school is good or terrible. Acing standardized tests in the K-5 crowd is not that compelling. DD's current school (public K-5) is like a dream come true to me but on paper it doesn't look like "the best." It really comes down to the teachers, the other support staff, parents... all people things. How does one assess that without diving in?
I base "I live in a crappy school district" on 1) having taught in Philly public schools and seen firsthand the sheer chaos and lacking of learning taking place in most classrooms, 2) the class size, 3) the lack of extras (arts, music, sports) in the schools and 4) the high rate of turnover (I was one of 4 teachers to teach the whole year in my school, and only 2 of us were there for more than a year).
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
Post by ladybug2002 on Jan 26, 2015 18:14:01 GMT -5
When we moved to this state, we specifically chose this town because of their public schools and have been very happy so far. I am not even aware of any private ones in this town- most people here homeschool if they don't want to use the public schools.
If we ever move back near our families, she will go to private school.