Is it immoral to send your children to private school?

I didn’t read the whole rant because it wasn’t worth the time. but I did pick this out before I clicked out of it: “If you can afford private school (even if affording means scrimping and saving, or taking out loans), chances are that your spawn will be perfectly fine at a crappy public school”

I was FAILING in public school. My parents took me out and put me in a private school with more supervision (I used to get picked on mercilessly in public) and my new school had much smaller class sizes. If I didn’t excel, at least I didn’t shut down like I did in public school. They made me do 4th grade over, but I made it up when I graduated in 11th grade.

What a crock of shit.

Yes, it is. It should be criminalised, the offenders should receive the death penalty and their children, now spoilt, should be minced in industrial mincers and turned into sausages, to be sold at bargain prices in supermarkets all across the world.

I see the author’s point – but I would never sacrifice my children just because maybe, someone, some day, might benefit. Bad schools are cheaper than good schools. It will be a long time before public schools change. For that to happen, the general public would have to agree that education is vital. It will be a while.

It’s no one’s fucking business other than the parents.
No it’s not immoral, just a tad expensive,

It isn’t about morality.

I have said on other Q’s that what I think is important is a “school” be a good fit for the child. I put it in quotes because I include homeschooling. I don’t think public, private, or homseschool is better or worse than the other, just depends on the kid. It also depends on where you live, and I will say that from my personal observation the towns where the kids with money go to private, the public schools suffer. If everyone was going to the public schools I do think the public schools would be better in those places, but there isn’t a perfect formula for it. Plus, in America schools are run on the local level, so there are so many factors going on at once.

There have been studies that show that pretty much it doesn’t matter where you get your primary or secondary education, good students do well either way. The author of the article talked about not having many AP classes, well I point out that large public schools often have many many more elective choices than private schools.

A neighbor of mine taught math in a Mississippi public school back during desegregation, and she pleaded with the white families not to take their white kids out of the school and put them in that little private school they created. The public school had science equipment and more class offerings, but many of them still did it. Parts of the south have that lingering in their education system. But, now many of the private schools are very good. The private schools are good and the public schools not so much, predominantly filled with minority students who also live in lower income areas. It isn’t always about what classes areoffered, as the author mentions, but about safety. It was talked about where I lived outside of Memphis. The larents never complained much that the black children brought down tests scores or interferred with the level the class was one. They complained about more violence in the school (whether just perceived or true I don’t know) and the parents from lower income having influence on the board members.

Private education often is also a religious education, which many people want for their children, and I can’t see denying them that choice. At the same time, some of the voices from the religious right to dismantle the public school system feels like a way to try to indoctrine more children in religious schools. It also shows a lack of consideration for the poor to have the opportunity for education.

When even the public school teachers who can afford it – as well as every US president within my lifetime – send their own children to private schools, the criticism is moot.

@CWOTUS I think the President thing as an argument that fits in with my example of safety and social class. If all the wealthy white kids in DC also were in public schools, the schools might be different in DC. It won’t ever happen because of the numbers.

There is no morality issue involved here. Some schools are better than others, and some parents are better than others. It is best to find the right fit for the child.

Is that Slate’s opinion or the opinion of the author whose byline appears on the article?

I’m torn on this. My best friend went to private school and hated it, she thought the education was overrated and it was a snobbish and restrictive atmosphere. We have a lot of private schools here, mostly Catholic, and the graduation and employment rate is very very high, much higher than public school.

As a public school kid, I can honestly say that my performance & learning level were up to me. I could be on honor roll or not, I could do extra-curricular activities or not, it was all about my personal choices for myself.

So since I don’t have kids, I’m going to say that it’s a parent’s decision to better their child’s earning rate later in life by the connections they have through a private school education. I don’t for one minute think that makes them a bad parent. If I could go back in time, and my mom could afford a private education, I think my life may be better.

No, that’s just silly.

I loved going to private school. Probably the single best thing my parents ever did for me.

For a sensitive, shy child that would have fallen through the cracks at public school, it was exactly what I needed. My class had 4 teachers for god’s sake. It was heaven.

The only downside was the harsh transition when I inevitably had to switch to public school when my mother could no longer afford Montessori. It was like going from living in the USA to a third world country. Complete culture shock. That was the only ‘bad’ part about going to private school – when it ended.