Many more private school teachers have advance degrees, they are also have much more flexibility to teach as needed and are not as constrained by government intervention (all forms, local, state, and feds).
OT:Private Schools, Are they worth the cost?
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Many more private school teachers have advance degrees, they are also have much more flexibility to teach as needed and are not as constrained by government intervention (all forms, local, state, and feds).
The private school our kids go to use Singapore Math Enrichment. I asked my son in 6th grade if he would want to go back to public school, and he emphatically said no, because he felt the pace was too slow for math and science.
I guess you've furthered my point. Makes it even that much more insane that type of coin is being tossed around.
That is awesome. That would make it worth it for me.
The typical math and science education for public schools in the US is terrible. So wonder so many students drop out or switch majors in college when they have to take real math and science classes in college, the gap is just too huge vs what they did in HS. So unless they took AP and Honors math and science in HS, they are pretty much screwed or severely handicapped vs the kids that did or foreign students.
There are large amounts of STEM jobs and high salaries just waiting to be filled.
STEM is not for everyone, but we should at least give our kids a fighting chance that want to go into those fields.
Public schools have a higher percentage of teachers with advanced degrees than private schools.
"In 2011–12, some 76 percent of public school teachers were female, 44 percent were under age 40, and 56 percent had a master’s or higher degree. Compared with public school teachers, a lower percentage of private school teachers had a master’s or higher degree (43 percent)."
Source: National Center for Education Statistics
http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=28
Please show your work. It is not economically feasible for a person with a masters degree to take a job in the low $30s without Cadillac benefits & pension.
I don't buy that they have more advanced degrees; flexibility, yes.
have two daughters - one attended RBC and one at Monmouth regional. Was originally of the opinion of save your money and send kids to public school, however have witnessed a significant benefit of private/parochial school. Depending on the district, or if a magnet school is an option - public schools are fine. However, if you are not in the advanced programs in a public school you may be better off in a private setting.
Most interesting observation is that the teacher and curriculum alternatives are superior in the public sector, however its the peer group of kids (and parent participation) that makes a significant difference in tipping the scales towards the private school option.
Most interesting observation is that the teacher and curriculum alternatives are superior in the public sector, however its the peer group of kids (and parent participation) that makes a significant difference in tipping the scales towards the private school option.
Back to the original question, there is no definitive answer. I live in a town where the school system is, fwiw, consistently ranked in the very top of the NJ Monthly list. I have a son now in college and a daughter now in high school. For my son, I chose a private (Catholic) high school that I had also attended. I felt that if he was in public school that he would aim for the middle. At the private school he pushed himself hard and had a significantly better academic record then I think he would have at the public school. My daughter wanted the public school and so that's where she is. In hindsight, she may have been better in private as I believe her first 2 years she was not pushed enough. Her effort and results have improved. The point is this - if your kid can get into all honors classes in public school (my daughter is in a couple) or if your child has special needs, the public may be the way to go. If they are middle of the road college prep students then a private school may offer a better learning environment. What you need to do is put your kid in the environment that you feel is best for them. And in either case, let the teachers know you are involved.
Maybe that type of coin isn't that insane to some people when you consider the lifetime of benefits a superior education will offer.
Personally, I find it insane a parent wouldn't do that.
I've lived in the area for over 36 years and I've seen the people who go to RBC / CBA and the voc schools (My daughter went to high tech.) and IMO the Voc schools are a better value (free) and straight up better than RBC and on par or better than CBA.
Towards the end of a disappointing year we considered switching to a private school. Kid stayed public, and got a great teacher the following year. The difference was night and day. The off year was just a bad teacher/student fit.
If resources were less scarce, we would not have hesitated going the private route, but its hard to imagine the outcome would have been better then with that one great teacher.
If resources were less scarce, we would not have hesitated going the private route, but its hard to imagine the outcome would have been better then with that one great teacher.
I read every post here. I believe much depends on affordability and the students ability. I could not justify $21,000 per year for my two kids to go to private HS. With fees, uniforms and books I was looking at $368,000 and an extended retirement age of 65.
True - Kyle Flood didn't go to a public high school and he landed in a 7-figure job. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:
I rather home school than private school. Private schools do well because the people who send their kids there have money. People with money (in most cases) are very smart and care greatly about education. I've met a few people who aren't too bright and were in private school since pre-K. Just going to private school won't make you smart. I rather spend money on paying for private retired teachers and co-op groups and let my kid learn algebra at 8 via home schooling.
"In" before "your kid will be socially awkward!"
"In" before "your kid will be socially awkward!"
It's called priorities. My wife and I haven't purchased or had a car payment in years. We'd rather both drive Chryslers than BMW's. As a kid, we went on vacation, to the Poconos, once every 5 years. For my parents catholic school was more important than vacation. I talk to people all the time who tell me they can't afford it and then pull away from practice in a Mercedes and Escalade as they head to their LBI house.
We discussed homeschooling but I think it's a real strain for the parent responsible. I know you don't have kids yet but you will learn there are days you simply want them out of the house. If my wife had to teach my kids with the way this am went I'd come home to dead bodies. Lol
I agree about dumb kids and catholic school, I use a 20, 60, 20 rule. For the very top and bottom it doesn't make a huge difference academically. To me, it's the 60% that could go either way. Also, the added discipline,responsibility, and accountability helps all 100% of the kids.
Superior, my ass. Such a blanket statement to make by claiming all private schools are superior.
Hits the nail on the head. Your job as a parent is to provide your child with the best possible chance for success in life. And private school is one of the biggest ways to do this.
The school my daughter will go to has 73% of its staff with advance degrees. Our alternative option has 74% of its staff with advanced degrees.
I fully plan on having our kids join a co-op and or hiring a retired teacher, professor, etc to teach them and other groups of students. As for discipline and more importantly for a home schooled kid, socialization, that is what sports are for. Especially football, karate, wrestling and gymnastics.
Be careful about home schooling. Most of those kids turn out weird. Maybe this is because weird parents are more like to home school their kids, but still, be careful.
There are a ton of great home school groups in NJ, and the education can be just fantastic. I'm not doing it with my daughter, but I have friends who home school and it is working out very well for them. They are part of a group of kids and there are no socialization issues at all.
I think, almost by definition, home schooled kids are going to be different in some ways because their parents are obviously rejecting the norms of society to some degree. I don't necessarily view that as a bad thing. I believe most research shows that home schooled kids do very well in life (on avg).
FWIW my daughter goes to a private elementary school, but I live in JC and our schools are not exactly great. Plus I am lucky enough to be able to afford it without any real sacrifices. Struggling to send her there could well have changed the decision, about schools or where we live.
This is a common misconception. The kids who become weird or socially awkward are because they are raised to be socially awkward. There are plenty of weird and socially awkward kids in public/private school too. Just think back to when you were in school and who all the weird kids were. If you're talking about kids who never leave the house and have Mom and Dad teach them all day and never interact with anyone their own age, then you'd be correct.
Yes, just like all the benefits a Seton Hall or Rider degree gives you over a Rutgers or TCNJ degree. Private high school is superior in every way and people who live in a superior public school district and pay 5 figures in school taxes per year are idiots for not realizing this.
Someone please read the link I posted on page one and explain exactly what benefits a CBA diploma gives over a diploma from Colts Neck, Holmdel, Marlboro, or Middletown South.
Of course it depends on the schools, and there very may be some public schools that might be similar to some private schools, but I doubt there are that many.
I used to live in Manhattan Beach, and their school Mira Costa is one of the best public schools in the country. Even so, I know a lot of people who send their kids to private school because they are that good.
The same can be said for where I live now. As stated, it depends on the schools in question, but I would be shocked if there are too many publics that are the equal of the private schools in any area.
The other issue is can your kid get into those private schools. In Los Angeles, that is hardly a given.
I used to live in Manhattan Beach, and their school Mira Costa is one of the best public schools in the country. Even so, I know a lot of people who send their kids to private school because they are that good.
The same can be said for where I live now. As stated, it depends on the schools in question, but I would be shocked if there are too many publics that are the equal of the private schools in any area.
The other issue is can your kid get into those private schools. In Los Angeles, that is hardly a given.
Sorry need to disagree with parts of your post. 100% agree with High Tech and maybe Bio Tech. And of course agree with better value. I know a ton of kids that went to Comunication and MAST and they are not at the same level as those two and a bunch of them could not get into RU. We are very lucky to have those schools here in Monmouth County but not are all the same.
If you look at the placement of the last 5-8 years at RBC and CBA they would blow away all of those except HT. CBA has the same and a little better placement but it depends on what year.
Go and talk with some admitance officers at schools and they will tell you point blank where the best students are coming out of.
If your public school is a Rumson, Holmdel etc. there is no reason to go private unless for religious purposes.
One thing that a lot people dont get is the peer pressure that makes these schools a step better. I dont carei if is Rumson or RBC. You as a student and your parents realize your goal is not Brookdale or some other lower ranked schools. Your peers are trying to get into the highest ranked schools they can get into. When the admittence or denial letters come out the hallways either have kids crying in happiness or sorrow. The peer pressure makes this happen, good or bad.
I have used this anaolgy with my sister in law who lives in Milburn. You could take the curriculum and teachers from Milburn and switch them with the teachers from Asbury Park and I can promise you AP will not be ranked one of the best HS in the state and Milburn will still have that ranking. With most private schools parents are paying a good buck and expect a lot more of the student where in some HS there is not the same expectation.
EXACTLY this.
Both of my parents went to Catholic schools and dropped out of college. Instead of wasting their money, they bought a house in Monmouth County that has nearly doubled in value and both my sister and I graduated from public school and have advanced degrees. Now we have those degrees and their investment.
It really cracked me up when I was at RU and the private school kids were in the pre-expos and I didn't have toi take it because I passed the AP English exam, or when I was in law school and we had to practice negotiations and kids who had been handed everything couldn't understand how.
Or better yet how I graduated HS able to explain the meaning of most Jewish holidays despite being raised Catholic, or how I knew how to play Chinese poker and order dim sum.
When you buy into a school district you invest in your kids more than once, you give them acrruing real estate along with a superior education and the ability to interact with every class and race and type of person.
The people that Johnny mentions are wasting money. If I stayed in JC it would be one thing, but unless my kid got into the language immersion program, I'd buy into a suburb and sell when he graduated HS and bank the money for college.
IMO education is largely what you make of it. I kind of chuckled in college when some would talk about how much better their private HS was compared to schools similar to the one I went to (Belleville HS), yet we were both at Rutgers.
I'm a huge proponent of public education but I can appreciate why many may prefer private schools, be it the religious aspect or the more intimate environment. In some cases (like very rough areas where the HS has numerous issues) I can really see why parents send their kids elsewhere.
I wholeheartedly agree with everyone saying that familial support/ involvement is a key factor in student performance. When I worked for DYFS/DCPP out of college I had a case where 3 kids were being raised by an older relative in one of the most violent, downtrodden areas in the state. The family's physical home /neighborhood could have been straight out of central casting for the movie Judgement Night...yet two of the kids were valedictorian and salutatorian of their respective classes and had full rides to good 4-year schools. The youngest was doing well but had severe impairments. Everyone on the neighborhood loved the relative and even the criminal element left them alone out of respect. The person was just strong, loving yet tough and didn't tolerate nonsense/ garbage.
Joe P.
I'm a huge proponent of public education but I can appreciate why many may prefer private schools, be it the religious aspect or the more intimate environment. In some cases (like very rough areas where the HS has numerous issues) I can really see why parents send their kids elsewhere.
I wholeheartedly agree with everyone saying that familial support/ involvement is a key factor in student performance. When I worked for DYFS/DCPP out of college I had a case where 3 kids were being raised by an older relative in one of the most violent, downtrodden areas in the state. The family's physical home /neighborhood could have been straight out of central casting for the movie Judgement Night...yet two of the kids were valedictorian and salutatorian of their respective classes and had full rides to good 4-year schools. The youngest was doing well but had severe impairments. Everyone on the neighborhood loved the relative and even the criminal element left them alone out of respect. The person was just strong, loving yet tough and didn't tolerate nonsense/ garbage.
Joe P.
100% wrong in some towns. Do you know the demographics of Rumson? It's 98-99% white. The only class and race you are interacting with in Rumson is upper middle class white kids. In Oak Hill, there are quite a few Chinese, Indian and children of other races. It is far more diverse than Rumson and much more in line with the diversity of major Universities. As I said in an earlier post, there are a lot of strong opinions and blanket statements in this thread. Every kid and situation is different. I don't make judgments on the choices other parents make for their children.
Sorry to disagree with highlighted parts of your post.
First, why, "Maybe Bio Tech."? Do you realize it is the only IB school of the Vo Techs in Monmouth County? And for whatever it is worth, US News and World Report ranked Biotech the best high school in NJ ahead of High Tech.
Do you realize Communications is a much different focus than High Tech, Biotech, MAST and Allied Health (premed)? It is focussed on Communications, not sciences.
And MAST does a nice job of developing leadership skills because of the ROTC component. Very unique. And chemistry, biology and physics classes are sometimes conducted on a boat. Where else is there such an opportunity? And maybe the kids going to Communications and MAST are not interested in running (or ruining) the world.
There are many reasons for kids living in Rumson, Holmdel and other towns to send their kids to private schools. Some do it because they can afford to. Some do it because they want their kids to go to a boarding school. You are going to tell us that sending your kid to Philips Exeter, Lawrenceville or Peddie is some type of terrible mistake? I strongly disagree.
You don't have to tell me about the peer pressure, my daughter went to high tech, massive amount of pressure in that school. With respect to RBC and CBA the kids who go to those schools are from families who have the means and drive their kids, whereas the public schools have the issue of having kids who are at the bottom academically so essentially you have a self fulfilling prophecy, with some of the best kids, going to the privates schools and the less academically inclined going to public schools. In other words the kids going to this school will do well at their home school, if there home school is of any value.
But again as I said earlier it depends on your situation, if you are living in Asbury Park then RBC , CBA or the vo tech schools would be your only choice but my high school is an IB school with lots of AP and honors classes, and having all daughters, it's either RBC or the academies and knowing lots of people who went to RBC and seeing their outcomes over 30 years I can't really justify spending that money, not when I have to put 4 through college.
As for the rest of the MCVSD schools, with the success of High Tech, they are all getting much more competitive including Communications. Allied health is extremely competitive as is Biotech.
My Kids go to a top notch public in SJ (Haddonfield). They Finished two years of HS algebra by 8th grade. The arts, literature and music programs are great too. During back to school nights and events you can't park anywhere near the schools there are so many parents attending.
The value proposition is not public vs private. It is about which specific privates vs publics and by what types of students your kids will be surrounded and the value placed on their education. Unfortunately it is a truism that very few publics have that type of population because of monetary issues but most privates do.
Of course this is somewhat of a generalization and you mileage may vary.
The value proposition is not public vs private. It is about which specific privates vs publics and by what types of students your kids will be surrounded and the value placed on their education. Unfortunately it is a truism that very few publics have that type of population because of monetary issues but most privates do.
Of course this is somewhat of a generalization and you mileage may vary.
Please tell where I said people in Rumson shouldnt go to where they want? I said they don't need to go to private schools they can get a great education right at home. I am not going state here why I might "realize" some things in education in Monmouth County, people who know me on this board will understand.
You are correct on some of your statements but not on all, we can leave it at that.
I'm not directing this at any particular person but -
Unless people actually have first-hand experience with multiple schools, I think it takes a lot of temerity to say for certain school X is better than school Y.
Unless people actually have first-hand experience with multiple schools, I think it takes a lot of temerity to say for certain school X is better than school Y.
Sorry if I misunderstood what you said about Rumson and Holmdel.
I have firsthand experience with Rumson. I guess it depends on what a parent and their child decide on what is a "great" education for them. Every child is different with different educational goals and needs. .
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