Recently, Allison Benedikt wrote a piece for Slate arguing that if you send your child to private school, you are a bad person. I don’t agree; I’ve never gone to public school and my kid is now in a private high school, and I like to think that my parents are good people and that I’m halfway decent.
It’s led to a lot of discussion, naturally, because it’s such a complicated issue. Here’s another angle, to add to the debate and to help frame a lot of discussions about education: what would a rich person do?
Warning: generalizations ahead!
1) Rich people spend money on education for their own children. For K-12, they pay very high housing prices and property taxes to live in areas with excellent public schools, or they pay tuition to send their children to private schools. For college, they also pay money (which they have, natch) and encourage their children to go away from home. It is a sign of failure for a rich child to go to a commuter college.
2) That being said, there are rich kids at commuter colleges, usually because they flunked out at a more expensive school and needed some time to mature.
3) Rich people do not send their children to for-profit online schools that advertise on late-night television. Any politician or think-tank person who says that for-profit online education is the wave of the future does not want that for his or her children. You might call that person a hypocrite.
4) School is a big part of rich-person culture. (Hello, preppies!) They are proud of their alma mater and support it financially. The friends they make in college are a huge part of their business and social life forever. When they arrive on campus, they join clubs to meet people and form those social connections.
5) Rich people don’t have student loans – because they have the money to pay.
6) Rich people value diversity, to an extent. They raise money for scholarships and are proud that their children’s private school has low-income students on a free ride. They like that there are a mix of people in their children’s public school. However, they do not want their children to feel unsafe, nor do they want a kid with whatever issues to take a teacher’s time away from their own children. Finally, they care about those life-long social connections. They will consider an academic magnet school in an urban area or an honors college at a less-selective public university. They will not consider a struggling neighborhood high school no matter how often you assure them that their children will do just fine anywhere.
7) In general, rich people want their kids to learn about art, music, and history. They aren’t terribly concerned that their children have marketable skills, but they expect them to learn how to manage money – a practical skill for someone who may well be inheriting it.
So, if you were using this list to choose a college, you would skip over the for-profit online option, but you would also look at places you could afford with reasonable financial aid. You would want a place where a kid can find a program of others who are serious about school, and you would want that kid to join clubs and make friends. You want a mix of general education and practical skills.
Your kid doesn’t have to get less than a rich kid.It doesn’t have to be Harvard, nor does it have to be unaffordable.
Discussion welcomed. Spammy links to for-profit online schools are not.
But what is the definition of a “Rich Person”?
Well, that’s a tough one! Like I said – lots of generalizations here.
I hated that article too, and here’s why: Even though I’m not a Rich Person, I’m not willing to sacrifice my kids on the altar of someone else’s idea. Sure, everyone keeping their kids in public school may, OVER TIME, improve the schools for all. But why would do I that to my kids? Why would I ask someone else to do that to their kids — sacrifice their kids for an idea that may or may not work?
Currently, my kids ARE in public school. They’ve also been in private, parochial school and have been homeschooled. Most parents, of all economic spectrums, want the right and resources to make the educational decisions that are in the best interests of their kids and their families. And that, I think, is the way it should be.
Here’s my issue with Benedikt’s piece–she ignores that people with money can get into a de-facto private school by buying property in a well-to-do district.
Also, public vs. private seems to be a very different debate whether you’re talking a suburban, urban or rural environment.
Annie, I hate the fact that in her article she assumes that kids will get a lousy education if they go to public school…that mindset stinks and perpetuates why so many affluent families pull their kids. And honestly, in my community, I don’t really think the kids who got to private school are any better off than those that go to public–they are just in a homogenous environment without kids from different races, ethnicities and socio-economic backgrounds. I’ve tutored kids from the most elite private schools in my community and trust me, they aren’t getting a better education than the kids in our district. But their parents do have more control, which I think is a big part of this generation. My kids go to public school now and will probably go to private college/university. I do live in the suburbs, but in a very diverse district. I will say though, that while I’m a staunch advocate of public school, I understand that people choose private for a variety of reasons.