[quote=flu]In public schools, I don’t think the donations make much of a difference to peddle influence if that’s what you are worried about. However, volunteering in class and PTA, while not directly influences things, at least will make you aware of the direction the class and/or school is going…So if you’re concerned about that, I’d suggest you or your wife get more involved in the school.
In a private school, in addition to the tuition, yes additional donations probably does make a difference in the amount of time is dedicated to your kid. So that’s why I think it’s ironic that some people think the end-all-be all to being in a not-so-great school district area is simply to send their kids to a private school. Yes, your kid might get a better education relative to the public school he/she was going to attend, but you’ll also be competing against other families/parents that most likely will have a heck of a lot more money than you do. And in a private school, at least based on what some of the folks I know have said, you’ll see a lot more influence in that regards. It’s one of the reasons why I don’t plan on sending my kid to a private school, at least not before college.
Not that I think there is anything wrong with that. It’s just simply for me, I cannot afford to compete with others who have a lot deeper pockets. Take “flyer” for instance. If he had a grade school kid that sends his kids to private school and I have a grade school kid to send to the same private school, it takes him a lot less financial resources relative to his net worth than it would take me. He could send his kid there, donate a couple of extra 10’s thousands, and that probably would make a difference in a public school. Me, maybe I could come up with the private tuition, maybe I can donate my time…Is it worth it? For him, probably, because it probably doesn’t make a dent on his bottom line. Is it worth it for me? Probably not. Because it makes a huge dent in my bottom line. Would I if I could, you betcha… So hey, that’s how it works. You recognize we’re not all equal, and you realize well, shit here’s my constraints, got to make the best of it.
I figure if my kid is good enough, she’ll be able to do just fine in a good public school. And if she is not academically inclined, there’s no amount of private grade school or tutoring, etc that will fix that, in which plan B will be to allow her to be a trust fund kiddie ! Which brings me to point #2.
I never plan on selling any of my properties, unless it’s to do a 1031 exchange. Part of my FLU empire building strategy. I don’t see how kids these days will be able to really make it on themselves without a little help. Maybe a small percentage of the population, but most other kids on average will need help. It’s a pretty brutal world out there these days. If you think about it, you’re complaining about affordability of housing right now. Imagine what’s it’s going to be like when you’re kids are your age.
Imagine what college tuititons will be like if the elite schools continue with their 4% annual increase. Imagine what will happen if taxes go considerably up with a retiring elder population taking out of all the social systems. Imagine when our debt ceiling explodes. Ain’t gonna end pretty, I’m afraid.[/quote]flu, I don’t think you’d get special preferential treatment in private school either. At least that’s not my experience. In my kids’ school, every room has a room parent. Who organize donation for the teacher and PTA. Then all the parents donate when the room parents send out the suggested donating amount. I never felt like my kid was getting treated differently and there’s no way for the teachers to know how much each parent donate. The only way you can make a bigger difference is to volunteer. But that’s exactly the same as public school.
I agree that private school is not a be all/end all of private vs public. But in term of donation and volunteering, they’re very similar. So, you have to ask yourself, how much you’re spending more for a house in CV vs a very similar house in SV, looking at the same canyon. If you have just 1 kid and you send him/her to private school for all 12 years, you’re looking about $70k for the first 7 years and ~$200k for the remaining 6 years if you send him/her to LJCD. So, the difference is $270k. That’s a much bigger premium CV is getting vs SV. So, if I have just 1 kid and I want to send my kid to the absolute best school, that’s what I’d do.
What annoys me about public school is the teach to student ratio. Which I think affect things greatly. In private school that my kid went to, in 2nd grade, teacher to student ratio is 12-to-1 while in public school, 2nd grade ratio is 24-to-1. Not to mention that private school don’t have 1/2 day every week, their school hour is longer everyday, and they have less holiday (Thanksgiving week vs just getting Thursday/Friday off).
