Public or Private School in USA

Mash_Babu · Post by **Mash_Babu** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 8:41 pm

I would like to see what most of our members take on this.
Almost all the parents with school going kids might have gone through this dilema, Please post your thoughts.

Our kid is going to start school next here and we are trying to figure out what will be the best for him.

we are getting conflicting info from both sides so i would like to see what our members think.

thanks

layman · Post by **layman** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 2:53 am

This is very simple. If you have a lot of money, send them to private school and boast private school is the best. If you cannot afford private school, send them to public school and talk about how the public schools provide the real life exposure.

I assure you, at the end of this discussion, you will be still breaking your head about which is better.

anand1 · Post by **anand1** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 8:34 am

I agree with layman.

Its really about money. If you live in a state where you have both state and county taxes in addition to huge property taxes, you are already paying a lot for public education indirectly. In additon to that, if you have enough money, you can send your kid to private school. Not sure whether you can get any money back from county/uncle sam for sending your kid to private school. Bush was talking about such vouchers not sure what happened there.

layman · Post by **layman** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 9:44 am

I sent my kids to public school but I did not have any dilemma like you because I simply did not have money to afford private school. I supplemented the public school education with Kumon because California ranks within bottom 10 for public school education. You can consider supplemental education if you decide to send your kids to public school and if you are not satisfied with the standard of teaching there.

Mash_Babu · Post by **Mash_Babu** » Tue Sep 11, 2007 4:24 am

Thanks for the response...
fortunately i can afford private school, but is it worth?

layman · Post by **layman** » Tue Sep 11, 2007 5:02 am

Mash_Babu;44320Thanks for the response...
fortunately i can afford private school, but is it worth?[/quote]
Is your spouse working? If your spouse is working, you should consider private school. This is because less time is needed by parents at home for private school kids. Private schools also will have good programs to keep the kid at school after the school time until the parent picks up the kid.

rahulk · Post by **rahulk** » Tue Sep 11, 2007 11:07 pm

layman;44092I sent my kids to public school but I did not have any dilemma like you because I simply did not have money to afford private school. I supplemented the public school education with Kumon because California ranks within bottom 10 for public school education. You can consider supplemental education if you decide to send your kids to public school and if you are not satisfied with the standard of teaching there.

that's a news to me, do u have any link to show? i am curious to see.

Desi_by_Nature · Post by **Desi_by_Nature** » Tue Sep 11, 2007 11:14 pm

I think if the public schools are good in your area then it makes sense to send your kids there rather than waste money on private schools.

In desi circles there is enough parental and peer pressure on kids to perform well no matter which school they go to.

Mash_Babu · Post by **Mash_Babu** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 1:08 am

IMO i think kids will be more street smart if they go to public school, as they can mingle and learn with other kids from various level of the soceity.

I want my kid to see the real world rather than having a friends circle with rich kids.

As a kid i have seen and learnt a lot from both my poor and rich friends and i want my son to see the whole spectrum.
Private schools obviously will have rich kids who might have never seen kids from poor background and their everyday struggle.

Public school system can indirectly teach the life lesson of "survival"
so i am leaning towards Public school system

as said by desi_by_nature - desi kids will learn in either public or private school

direstraits88 · Post by **direstraits88** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 6:29 pm

If you can afford it, then you can send your kids.

Just make sure you have a maintain a lifestyle similar to the other kids.. McMansion home, german cars and european vacation. Otherwise your kids will feel inferior.

Private school do not necessarily give better education. But they do open access to the elite colleges.

I met a desi doctor couple who sent their kids to private school. FRom their experience (their kids are settled now) they said, if you want to send kids to private school, send them from middle school. They felt there was no difference at the elementary level.