A few weeks ago, my family piled into our car at roughly 9:00 AM to sit in a smelly elementary school gymnasium to find out if my daughter was selected, via lottery, to attend a charter school in our area. We knew that our odds were iffy because a) it’s the only charter school in our area; b) it’s one of the best schools in the state; and c) it’s free. Everyone who can enter his or her child in the lottery does, making our chances ever slimmer. But little did we know that of the 132 spots available, only 76 spots would be left up for grabs. When you add that into the fact that about 300 people entered their kids in the lottery (just for kindergarten), our chances looked pretty grim.

Needless to say, my daughter didn’t get in. She’s 9th on the waiting list. Which, compared to some people who are 136 or higher, is pretty good. If 10 families screw up, we’re in! How exciting! Because I cannot rely on the mistakes of others, I have to pursue other avenues. For instance, school choice. We have school choice in our state but the schools I wanted to choice my daughter into are full and not accepting choice students. So onto the next few options: move, send her to our local public school, which sits squarely in the worst district in the state, or fork over the money for private school. Moving is our first choice (because that means we can actually send her to public school) but again, we have to rely on others. So, in the event that we can’t sell our house before school starts, we have to go with the private school option. And that doesn’t make me happy.

Why? Because the cost of private school is ridiculous. Or at least the one we’re trying for (the others have a price tag higher than in-state tuition at our local university. No, thank you). After paying $100 just to have her application reviewed, I had the privilege of taking her to an hour long evaluation to find out if she’s even acceptable for the school. If she is, then I get to pay a $400 deposit followed by over $7000 in tuition for the school year. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, too. If we want her to take the bus, we have to pay and the fee for that is determined by how far away we live from the school. And, if I can’t adjust my hours at work, we’re going to have to pay for aftercare (we get to skate with beforecare because my husband will be able to drive her. Hooray for small victories!).

That doesn’t include uniforms, supplies, books and whatever else they feel I need to pay for. And I’ll pay for everything they tell me to. I don’t care what it costs. My daughter’s education is worth it to me. It just makes me sad that the public schools where I live are so bad that sending her to them isn’t even an option. I’m not exaggerating either. I know lots of people who are in the same position or have moved simply because of the schools. It’s appalling and hurts me that our public schools can’t provide a good education for my child.

I am a huge proponent of public schools. I am a product of them. From elementary school through graduate school, I went to a public institution. And I’m really proud of the education I received. The fact that, without moving to a different district and out of our house (which we want to anyway but that’s another post), my daughter can’t have that bothers me tremendously. But when I live in a district that would rather turn down money for improvements than comply with the rules to receive that money, it’s time for other plans.

Situations like this make me glad that our consumer debt is gone. If we were still paying all that money, there’s no way we could afford this alternative situation. While this absolutely throws a monkey wrench in our savings plan, it’s a necessity for us. And I’ll deal with it. However, I’m hoping that it’s only temporary and we’ll only have to do it for one year (well, ideally, we’ll sell the house before school starts). But if something happens and it turns into a 12 year event, I’ll be okay. She just better get a hell of a good college scholarship.