Guilty as charged. My wife being a public school teacher has to have control over our kids education. So she unilaterally decided to enroll our kids in private schools and i’ve been paying for it for the past decade and i don’t have much of a say in the matter even though we go through the motions and act like i do.
Yes I can pay the cash each month, but I can’t really afford it. Due to the expense i’m not contributing much to our savings or my 401K as well as the time lost from the commute of the children that’s on top of the regular work commute.
I’ve talked to to other parents at the schools and i’m not alone. We all seem to have this irrational fear of the public school system as well as a need to control our children’s environment.[/quote]
If this is the case, jameswenn, then you surely can live wherever you wish, perhaps even in an area that would save time on your commute to private school and even your worksites! Congratulations! YOU don’t have to stand in line to overbid on an overpriced, underbuilt traincar sandwiched between two other “mcmansion” traincars with 3 feet to spare on each side so you can hear your neighbors’ toilets flush, just to live in a particular public school attendance area. For the same $$ or LESS, you can get a nice 1/2 AC+ spread with room to hook up your in-laws RV to utilities when they visit and an 85 yo tree to hang a tire swing on! Fvck exorbitant MR . . . nearly all of it is going to schools you’re NOT using, anyway!! If you already own and live in MR/HOA-encumbered (gated??) exurbia in lizardland, list your property NOW and GET OUT if you can do so above water! Put your kids in after-school tutoring/activities offered by their “private” campus until you or your spouse can pick them up (to assuage her “control issues”). This would be cheaper than exorbitant HOA/MR and extra gas daily for yours and the kids’ commute.
I’m sorry your spouse has such a dim view of public schools. She must be assigned to one of the (NCLB) underperforming campuses. Perhaps when she gets a little more seniority under her belt (15 yrs+?), she will be able to put her name in with her district for a better assignment. Every educator’s gotta pay their dues first. These “dues-paying” years are a “package deal” along with tenure and a 100% defined benefit pension after 30 yrs svc. You must know that this is how union contracts work. ;=]