Poll Your children: Public or Private?

[apple24]

I am just curious to know if your children attend public or private school and if you teach public or private??

I teach public in GA
My daughter has been to both public and private
She is returning to private for her 4th grade year
Both have good and bad aspects
But she is gifted and I think private is more challenging for her

 

[mrsb203]

public /private

Both of mine went to public school in the district where I teach. My youngest did go to a parochial school in kindergarten. It was all day and daycare was available. First grade I changed her to the school up the street.

 

[Laura]

Public

All three of my children attend the public school I teach at. Our parish school looked at me like I had three heads when I told them that my sons had IEPs. My boys are being served in public much better. I think my daughter would do better in parochial but it is a matter of convienence!
Public all the way! I also like the variety of friends my children have.

 

[fun_friend]

We don't really have a real option in our community for private school, but it might be improving. I wouldn't mind my kids being subject to more rigorous curriculum.

So they are in public school.

 

[javamomma]

public

My children have attended the same schools that I teach in.
My son has graduated and my daughter is in JR high.

 

[teachmo]

Public

...and I would never send my kids to private. Maybe it's different elsewhere but around here they brag about the kids being a year ahead. Baloney! I worked in private substituting and even did my student teaching. I was going to send my kids but everything I learned during my student teaching made me run the other way! My lessons were looked on poorly because they were hands-on. My college supervisor, however, loved them. The teacher taught directly from the book - they read and the students did a worksheet. Also the 2nd graders were not allowed to do any independent work. She read every question and then someone answered it and then they all marked their answers. She kept telling me and even wrote on my referral letter that I did not match the ability level of the child. I had them do some independent work. I followed modeling, then guided practice, and then independent. I have my own second grader now and he would be 100% capable of doing the lessons. I also teach 3rd and work closely with our 2nd grade teachers and they do things a lot like I did. I feel my children are more advanced due to their public education. I also feel they have expanded their horizons and gotten to know and accept a huge variety of people. Private school students are so sheltered they don't understand the real world - maybe not everyone but most. Stepping down from my podium now!

 

[lis3569]

I teach in the public schools. My children attend the public schools. I have taught in boht private and public and it is my opinion that the shcools are only as good as the people they employ. Both the private and public schools have good teachers and then some not so good teachers. So I might as well save my money and send them to public schools. I teach in the public and want to support the public schools.

 

[Kiki]

Public schools

My school-aged child attends the school I work at. I'm a prodcut of private school and feel that in some ways I was at a disadvantage. My school is wonderful, very diverse and, I think it's like someone else said, it's all about the teachers. There are plenty of places to still get a quality public education.

 

[lizbeth]

private school

I really resented the poster who said that private school kids are sheltered from the world. I do not believe they are. My kids go to a large private K-12th christian school and I wouldn't have any other way. I don't call it sheltering my kids to keep them away from the public schools which are full of gangs, fights, overcrowding, ect. In some areas the public schools might be okay, but most parents in my area that can afford to send their kids to private school would never dream of sending their kids to public school. The public schools are so bad in the district that we live in, that some parents who can't afford private school move to a new school district just to avoid the awful public school district we live in. My cousin moved an hour away so her kids would not have to go to the public schools in our area. Now she lives in a much better suburban public school district and is very happy with the schools her kids go to.

My husband and I would never send our children to the public schools in our area. They are awful. Unless we wanted our children to be the only white kids in the school. Our area public schools are at least 85% hispanic or higher, and I'm not about to send my kids to a school where all the kids around them only speak spanish. My kids would be miserable and would feel excluded and isolated. I want their school years to be happy ones, so I send my kids to a private school in the neighborhood that a lot of other neighborhood kids go to.

 

[teachmo]

sheltering

You are still sheltering them from the gangs, fights, overcrowding, etc. that you find in your neighborhood public schools. This doesn't necessarily make it a bad thing in your situation. However, some day they will have to work side-by-side with these type of people and I have seen firsthand experiences of people that cannot do that because of their private school education. People that do not know how to say no to the dangers that lurk because they never had any knowledge of them and how to handle them. Afterall they were private schooled and it didn't matter because they didn't encounter them. Then all of a sudden they are in college and some boy is trying to engage in sexual activities (never talked about it, wasn't done at their school) and they don't know what to do. They end up doing it and coming home pregnant because of no experience (I know someone this happened to). The step-parent who lost her step-child to the real mother. They wound up moving from private to public. The public school was 85% white, non-gang, non-fighting children. They had no concept of how to make friends because it was never an issue in their private rich school it was all about the money. They ended up with the 15% (diversity of cultures) gang members, fighting, drug experience children. (This happened to a parent at our church) My dh moved from a private elementary to a public high school where 1% were minorities. He ended up doing drugs, making bad grades, arrested, etc. He cleaned up long before I met him or we wouldn't be together. He had no clue what kind of experiences were out there. I feel that my public education offered me the choices but it also offered my parents and teachers the opportunity to educate me to make the right choices. This is just my opinion and I am sorry you are offended by it. These are firsthand experiences I have seen. It sounds like you are making the best choices you can for your child. I wouldn't send mine to the public schools in your area either but I don't live in that type of district. Nor do I live in the bigger cities/states where that is very common and hard to move away from. I know in some places it is.

 

[mab]

I teach

in a large private catholic school in Iowa and my children have attended catholic school from K-12. In my area the catholic school and the public school are equally good. They help each other out and have shared many programs and sports. Each has benefitted from the other with an excellent working relationship.

 

[fun_friend]

If I thought there were gangs and fights and serious overcrowding in my public school, and I had an alternative I could afford that was safe and uncrowded coupled with academic rigor, I would definitely put my kids in the more appealing environment. I don't think it's necessarily a benefit to have my kids around the worst segments of the population. I'd rather they had pleasant times in school. I'm lucky that our public schools are safe and pleasant as well as stimulating academically (although they could do more for the brighter kids than they do).

 

[Mrs. G]

public

My children attend public schools and I teach at a public school. We have great schools in our area.

 

[Sue W.]

Another option

I teach in a Minnesota public school.
I taught half time when our kids were younger and we home schooled our 3 children until the older two were a sophomore and a junior, and the youngest was in 8th grade.
I feel our schools are very good, but this was a personal decision of wanting to be more involved with our childrens' education.

 

[M.]

Re

I went to private (Catholic) and I teach in a Catholic school now. My parents were strongly against public schools. I, however, like to judge the school on the school and not by if it is public verse private. The public school systems where we live are AWESOME. I honestly can not say which is better, so I will most likely send my children to public.

 

[wig]

I teach in a parochial school. My boys went to parochial school through 8th grade and then public high school.

For the record, I do not teach from the book and when our kids go to high school they ARE at least a year ahead, many end up being valedictorians/salatorians or in the top 10% of the class. Our eighth grade religion class spends a great deal of time talking about temptations of peer pressure, sex, drugs, alcohol, the influence of the media, etc. I agree that a school is only as good as the teachers who teach there and it does not matter what type of school it is.

As a parent it IS my job to protect and shelter them. Why would I want to expose what means the very most to me to fights, overcrowded classrooms and filthy language if I didn't have to? My husband and I felt that in addition to the faith-based environment, high academic standards, and small classes, they would be given the tools to deal with the problems which they may face in a public school.

BTW: I know that there are very many good public schools with wonderful teachers. My son teaches in a very good school. This is NOT meant to cricize anyone who makes the choice to send their child to a public school. I think every parent needs to choose the school which they feel has the very best environment for their kids.

 

[SusanTeach]

public

I teach public, and my kids all go to public (same school district). I love our school district - it's a level 5, blue ribbon school. I feel like they're getting a great education. 2 out of 3 of my kids are in the gifted program, and thriving.

We tried private for my oldest when he was in kindergarten. It wasn't for us. It was good, but he wasn't allowed to be a kid - WAY too structured. They sat in desks ALL DAY and wrote on worksheets. He did wonderfully, but wasn't happy.

 

[tweet]

public

I teach in a public school, and my children attended public school. We, however, were advantaged in that my husband is also a teacher, and we could choose which public school to send our children to. They were allowed to transfer for free to the districts where my husband and I taught. Through their freshman years of high school, my sons attend school in the district where I taught. From his sophomore year on, my older son attended school with his dad. My younger son is a senior in high school now, attending in the district we live in. Placement in each situation was based on what we thought were the advantages for the boys each time. My school is DEFINITELY a stronger, better school than the elementary school where we live. Junior high in all cases was so-so.
High school for both needed to be larger with more advantages than the school district where I teach, so we decided to move the boys at that time. One chose to go with his dad (district 15 miles away), the other wanted to try our hometown school (10 blocks away).
Private school is really not an option in my home town. The nearest one, and there are kids from here who attend, is about 20 miles away.

 

[Teach 5]

Schools

I went to public school, I teach private & my kids go to private. I agree that the schools are only as good as the people they employ. Our public schools are great & I wouldn't have a problem sending my kids there. It is just more convenient to have them on the same schedule as me, including things like spring break.
Teachmo, please don't judge all public schools or school teachers by your student teaching experience. It is not like that at all here, we are very progressive, hands-on, multiple learning styles, etc., etc. I'm sure there are a few teachers like that in both the public & private systems.

 

[grace]

private all the way

I started teaching in public, went to private and the difference there in values and standards and morals was dramatic. Also, kids were far less punished and far more reasoned with. Character was the issue. My kids have been in various private schools since K. We have always been willing to pay the thousands each year to do this because we see such a difference between the kids at the private versus the public schools around here. Sheltered? You bet. Sheltered from bullying, vulgar language and acts, and a lack of values. Sheltered from real life? No way. There are social skills required in every situation. My kids are now adults. Decent, responsible adults who are active contributing community members. The only thing the "sheltering" did was prevent early promiscuity, drinking, drugs, and criminal activity. My children both received scholarships from prestigious public colleges due to grades and accomplishments. We let those go and continued with a Christian University that continued to uphold our values. As a result they dated people with the same standards and values. Directly affects who they will marry and the kinds of families they will have.