Why is 10k per student "not enough" when private schools do a better job for half the cost ?

[DT4K]

Just wondering, cause I don't get it.
My son starts 3rd grade this week. There are 35 students in his class. His teacher said there are no classroom aids because they don't have the money for it. The parents buy all the markers, pencils, glue, kleenex, etc. The parents are asked to help by bringing snacks and to help in the classroom.
Our state spends 10k per year per student and the democrats are acting like anyone opposed to raising taxes is mean and evil because we are in a "budget crisis" and the kids are suffering.
One of the local private schools charges $3500 a year in tuition. They raise another $1500 a year per student in donations and fundraisers. Total cost of educating the student = $5000 a year. Class sizes are smaller, the schools have more and better materials, and the students perform better on state tests.

So why can't the public schools do a comparable job with TWICE as much money ?

 

[BigFatCow]

private school teachers get payed less than public school teachers.

 

[wedi42]

private schools get some public money and also have fundraisers
they hit up the alumni every year for more money

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Private schools AREN'T better. What computers does your private school have?

 

[vi edit]

Private schools don't bus students.
Private schools don't have subsidised food programs.
Private schools don't have the large number of learning disabled kids.
Private schools often times have limited sports programs.
Of those limited sports programs many are privately funded by donations.

 

[Kilgor]

Private schools AREN'T better. What computers does your private school have?

What does that have to do with the quality of the school?

 

[DT4K]

Originally posted by: BigFatCow
private school teachers get payed less than public school teachers.

I find that unlikely. Besides, a 10 or 20k a year difference doesnt account for the fact that the 35 students in my son's class equal 350,000 in spending.

Originally posted by: johngute
private schools get some public money and also have fundraisers
they hit up the alumni every year for more money

That's included in my figures. $3500 in tuition. $1500 in fundraising and public funds. TOTAL spending per student = $5k per year.

Originally posted by: WinkOsmosis
Private schools AREN'T better. What computers does your private school have?

I don't know. But my son's public school classroom had one very very old mac. And the computer lab is full of old computers donated by local businesses.

 

[PCMarine]

It all depends on the quality of the public education in the area.

Here where I live (I'm 17 and still attend HS), the public education is just as good, if not better, than the private education offered in the same area. In fact, I'm glad I am enrolled in my district's public schools, as it saved my parents loads of money on a better education.

 

[BigFatCow]

my friends mom used to be a private school teacher and she said that private school teachers get paid less than public school teachers.

 

[kranky]

Private schools have to succeed or they go out of business. Public schools get rewarded with more money when they fail. Disincentive.

 

[kranky]

Private schools AREN'T better. What computers does your private school have?

Perhaps they focus on learning instead of spending gazillions on computer classes that, from what I read here, are an utter waste of time.

 

[DT4K]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
Private schools don't bus students.
Private schools don't have subsidised food programs.
Private schools don't have the large number of learning disabled kids.
Private schools often times have limited sports programs.
Of those limited sports programs many are privately funded by donations.

The school my son is going to now (public) has NO bussing. It was eliminated due to "not enough money". 10K apparently is "not enough money"
The federal government provides the money for the subsidized food programs and I don't belive that is included in the 10K figure for state spending. Besides, it only comes out to like $20 - $30 per month, or less than $200 per year per student. And at least half the students don't qualify.
The public schools in our state have very very limited sports programs and the parents generally have to pay a fee for them.

 

[ViRGE]

I know this may be hard to believe, kranky, but not everyone is out to screw you.

 

[Goosemaster]

CORRUPTION.

 

[PunDogg]

private schools are not better, they are worse, also public school are everywhere, even in the bad neighborhoods, were has private schools only "good" ones, they don;t have bus students, they get PUBLIC schools to do it, and they pay there teachers alot less, there are only hand full of good private school, and those are the ones that charge tution like fees. And with that type of money you had better be good.

Dogg

 

[Kilgor]

I know this may be hard to believe, kranky, but everyone is out to screw you.

 

[EyeMWing]

I can tell you EXACTLY freaking why public schools soak up more money than they should technically need. This summer, my school was supposed to receive a brand new parking lot courtesy of the SHA (SHA was being anal about putting in traffic lights and gave into the threats of local politicains to either redo the school's parking in a manner that is less conducive to collisions while leaving the parking lots, or they'd push legislation to mandate putting a traffic light in front of every school in the state). SHA ended up somehow splitting the bill with the school board 50/50 and instead of using their own labor, hired an independent contractor to do the work over the summer. No work got done. Contractor was still paid, and work is now expected to extend until the end of my senior year.

Also, electricians and networking d00ds were supposed to redo the entire networking and electricity system in the school. They were paid $50 an hour for 8 hours a day and accomplished virutally nothing over the summer.

The school's technology hired extra help at $50/hour to reimage all the computers over the summer. They did it, but they put the wrong fscking images on them all. They redid it again last week. IT'S STILL 100% WRONG!

That, my friends, is where the money goes.

 

[JellyBaby]

Look at where that $10k goes for your answer.

Private schools suck, eh? Is that why the vast majority of congress members put their kids into private schools?

 

[SilentZero]

Well I was privately educated for many years, but it was at a Catholic School. Im not completely aware of all the schools stats, but the school I attended was far above local public schools in academic standards. The tuition was hefty, but it was paid by parents. Im not sure if the state govt is allowed to give aid to catholic schools or not. Just my .02

 

[DT4K]

Originally posted by: PCMarine
It all depends on the quality of the public education in the area.

Here where I live (I'm 17 and still attend HS), the public education is just as good, if not better, than the private education offered in the same area. In fact, I'm glad I am enrolled in my district's public schools, as it saved my parents loads of money on a better education.

In many areas, public schools provide a very good education.
I'm not saying all private schools are better. I went to a very good public school and received a fine education.
Only that here in Oregon, we are being told by the democratic politicians that we have a school funding crisis. We are being told that our schools are failing because we won't vote to raise taxes. We are being shown declining test scores and told that it is the people's fault because we don't value education.
In my area, there are several private schools with very good reputations that consistently get higher scores than the local public schools. And they do it spending half as much money as the public schools.

Public school teachers here start at around 27k a year and range up to around 40-50k for elementary teachers with lots of years of experience. Maybe the private school teachers make less. That is certainly possible considering the amount of influence the public employees union has here. But it is not enough of a difference to account for a 5k per year per student difference. In a class of 30 students, that would amount to a teacher making 150k a year more at the public school.

 

[kranky]

Nope, I'm not worried about people trying to screw me.

I gladly pay my school taxes even though I have no kids. I would love to have a great public school system in my area. My comments are based on the people I know personally who are current or ex-public school or private school employees. And they tell me that so much money is squandered, so many administrators are complete dolts who happen to have Ph.Ds, and they can't discipline the students so they have to conduct things for the lowest common denominator.

Private schools can ban troublesome students and the public schools have to accept them. That's one factor that works in the private schools' favor, unless your kid is one of the ones who gets the boot.

 

[DT4K]

Originally posted by: PunDogg
private schools are not better, they are worse, also public school are everywhere, even in the bad neighborhoods, were has private schools only "good" ones, they don;t have bus students, they get PUBLIC schools to do it, and they pay there teachers alot less, there are only hand full of good private school, and those are the ones that charge tution like fees. And with that type of money you had better be good.

Dogg

If you read my post, you would notice that my son's school does NOT bus students.

 

[Epiphany]

because the beaucracy of the school system is so assinine, at least in san diego unified school district. Im a HS senior. We cut teachers left and right and programs because of the "budget crisis" but Alan Bersin the superintendent renewed his contract for 4 years for 185k in mid 2002. Administration in the school system sure get it good, they sit on their behinds in their little offices driving their pricey cars (my last principle had a lexus, mercedes, and some other car i forgot). Why don't they take a price cut? We cut teachers jobs and what does my school do? Hire 3 administrative positions. Gimme a break, the school system is a joke.

 

[rocadelpunk]

I can only offer my exp.

I went to private school from k-12 (same school)

tuition was around 10k a year averaged out...obviously it was lower during lower school years. We had a large cafetaria with varied and fresh meals everyday (everything was cooked during the day) no fast food or things like that...there'd be a main course, a pasta bar, a soup bar, a fruit bar, a salad bar, a vegetable bar and a sandwhich bar.

There was always an abundance of supplies, computers, extra curricular activities...buses were provided by the state...we got the buses because we took their prof. tests...which the administrators tried to get out of taking b/c we never had anything lower than 100% pass across the board and we took them a year or two earlier than the norm.

Teachers were always very dedicated...obviously not every teacher was great to work with, but the support system at private schools is much more of a community than say a public school. Everybody knows everybody type of deal...especially at my k-12, the grades were sometimes integrated...for example, the seniors had kindergarten buddies and would have activities together all throughout the year.

Without going into all the details...yes you can get the same education at a public school as you would a private school...private school more likely to have the courses a year earlier. However, the experience, quality of life, repore with teachers and growing up with friends for 13 yrs...needless to say I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

There are pros and cons to private school, there are pros and cons to public school

if you must strictly get down to the numbers, a private school student is going to have a great advantage the 1st year of college over a public school student (studies have shown it countless times and don't make me look for any of them) , however after that 1st year...if the student is truely a smart kid, he/she will be able to catch up and will likely supercede the average private school student.

Once again though, strictly by numbers, the average grades/scores whatever are much higher than the average for public schools.
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and to answer your question on why public shool's can't get the funding approriated correctly...it's very bad system, I don't know if it's like this where you live, but in Ohio, it's based off of property taxes, so a few public schools are excellent schools whereas others are caving in.

 

[Imported]

My public school experience has been great. Best thing ever was when we (basketball team) routed (30-40+ victories every game) every private school that was in the same league..