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.
Comments
Trackbacks
-
[…] Choosing a School. It’s Just Not for College Anymore at Daily Money Shot […]
-
[…] daughter’s school situation. Remember how I talked about sending my daughter to private school? And how our public schools are pretty terrible? Well, that was before I went nuts and quit my job. […]
Jana,
It’s ridiculous that you have to choose a private school because the public school system, which you pay taxes for, is such a bad option! However, as a parent, I completely understand your decision and hope that you don’t have to pay for private school for too long. It’s wonderful that you are a caring and involved parent, especially in a time when many people would stick with the status quo. Best of luck to you!
Monica recently posted…Credit Protection Plans from Card Issuers: Do They Really Protect You?
Thanks, Monica. I’m hoping it’s not a permanent solution, mainly because that means our house isn’t selling, and I agree with you. It is ridiculous that I have to choose private school. But I’ve known that this was a possibility so I’m not totally shocked.
Yikes! My husband and I both feel strongly about sending our kids to public schools (after many, many prayers) but education has always been my highest priority. I am fortunate that we live within the boundaries of one of the best public schools in our town. As in, other parents fill out a boundaries exception every year and drive their kids to our school. Our rent and cost of living is higher in this area but it is worth having an excellent education for mostly free. There are a bunch of extra’s that we fork out money for like Outdoor School but it is well worth the level of education. The school district we lived in when my oldest daughter was in pre-k and 1st grade (she skipped kindergarten) was new and the level of education sucked BUT the speech pathologist (free and held during the school day) was beyond excellent. It is the only reason I kept her there. I wasn’t too concerned about her education at that point because she could have passed the 1st grade curriculum in Pre-K. The progress she made was amazing and she is now in excelling in 5th grade free of any continuing speech therapy. I think with all things the whole picture needs to be considered and decided whats best for you and your family. I am not above paying what ever it took to have my children receive an excellent education but I would exhaust all free options (like you are doing) first but that’s just me.
Not too sure how I feel about wishing nine other families screw up their paper work but for you I’ll do it. Good luck on selling the house.
anotherhousewife recently posted…Ragnar Del Sol 2011 Flashback
I don’t know that I necessarily want other families to screw up but I’m not saying it wouldn’t be nice 🙂
My husband and I also feel strongly about public education; however, when the education that’s offered is not where it should be, then it’s time to rethink those opinions. My child’s education is not something I take lightly and I refuse to be stubborn when I know it will have a negative effect on her. We are planning on moving to the best district in the state, where we can send her to public school with no reservations (and she’s going to need speech therapy as well).
Honestly, I’m surprised that your district let your daughter skip a grade. Where I live, there has to be extenuating circumstances because even if a child can academically handle an advanced grade, she might not be able to handle it socially.
I’m a big public school guy, but feel your pain. We’re fortunate (?) to be renting where we live, so we could move rather easily if needed. We also have a couple more years before our first goes to school. It’s definitely nuts though. In some places around here you can buy an extra $100,000 or more (sometimes a lot more) in house to be in a good district and have lower payments than private school plus house payments in areas with bad schools.
Nick recently posted…9 big money wasters
We’ve thought about that, too. We could move over the line into PA, pay higher taxes and higher housing costs and it would still be cheaper than paying for private school. Unfortunately, due to my husband’s job, we can’t move in that direction. It’s frustrating and yes, you’re in a great position being a renter. My only advice is settle on where you’re going to be living before your son starts school. It’s much, much easier.
Wow, I wish you the best with this. I would do the same thing in your shoes. I hope by the time my daughter starts school we’ll be living where she can go to public school. Hmmmmm… another thing to worry about 🙂
Mackenzie recently posted…Battle of the Bulge
It’s amazing how soon you have to start thinking about this stuff. I know you still have a couple of years but you’ll be surprised at how it sneaks up on you.
Our school district has really good elementary and middle school ratings for the area we live, but the high school ratings drop off dramatically because it’s geogaphically located in an area that’s quite a bit more shady (the elementary and middle school there aren’t rated as high). There is a neighboring school district that has spots available in ‘Schools of Choice’ which is something that is offered here in Michigan, allowing school districts with empty spots to fill them rather than close schools. It’s something we definitely are looking into even though we’re two years away from kindergarten for our oldest.
Money Beagle recently posted…Don’t Get Tunnel Vision When It Comes To Your Finances
It’s really good that you and your wife are thinking about this now, and that you’re investigating how to take advantage of the public education system where you live. We have school choice here as well but I think it’s a bit more broad than you’re describing. We can essentially pick anywhere in the state–as long as there are spots–and if you can get your kid to and from the school (transportation is not provided for choice students), your kid can go. I love this option but the school we want is an hour and half away from our house. That’s why we’re moving!
I am a product of public school, but I find it sad that children’s fate is in the hand of a lottery ball. We should get vouchers so that we could choose the best school for our children.
I Am 1 Percent recently posted…My Love/Hate Relationship with Real Estate Investing
We don’t have vouchers per se, but we do have school choice so we can pick the best option. The problem with choice is that there are very strict deadlines and if the classes are filled via the feeder pattern, they close the option for that grade in that school. Since it’s such a small state, everyone knows what the best schools are and they fill up quickly.
You’re right. It is a shame that our child’s educational fate was determined by a lottery drawing.
That’s tough. I’m sure there are hundreds of other people in your shoes. Isn’t there a way you could lobby for an improvement in the school district? It just seems so unfair that you pay taxes and then your children don’t get the best education because people just don’t care enough.
Dannielle @ Odd Cents recently posted…Comment on Odd Cents’ Favourite Posts of the Week – 19 February 2012 by Jana @ Daily Money Shot
Our state was one of the first winners of Race to the Top–essentially federal grant money to improve schools. Our district was willing to turn down their share because they didn’t want to comply with the rules to receive the money. Parents spoke up, people lobbied. Eventually, the administration caved but they had stonewalled people for quite a while. It’s a political game with kids’ education as pawns. I’d rather deal with the expense of private school or moving than fight people who clearly don’t care.
I am super thankful for my education system. I went to an Arts highschool (I wasn’t in the program) and it was fantastic. We live in the suburbs so the public system is a lot better than most.
That being said, our education was EXTREMELY important to our parents and they stayed on us to make sure that we got into our school of choice.
I don’t get the huge difference between the private and public school in the states.
The only thing I regret is not attending a French elementary school. That would have officially made me bilingual (Canada has English and French as its national languages).
Marissa @ Thirtys Six Months recently posted…Benefits of income diversification
Marissa, I could probably write a whole post on explaining the difference between public and private schools in my state (I can’t speak for the rest of the US, though). Where I grew up, however, you were weird if you went to private school. Where I live now, it’s totally normal because the quality of public education where I live is so low. A lot of it has to do with teacher pay, parental involvement, money available to the school via taxes (our taxes are painfully low and this is one of the side effects).
It’s great that your parents were so involved. Mine were, too. I hope I do as good of a job for my daughter!
I’ve always wanted my future children in private school – I don’t mind public school, since that’s where I went and I turned out just fine, but I believe kids thrive in environments that help them learn with the attention of their teacher. With 35 kid class sizes, I can’t fathom how that’s even possible in public schools.
Plus, my province cut down on school funding so I’ve heard they are putting cleaning supplies for classrooms on the school supply list that parents are supposed to get. Eek!
Daisy recently posted…How to Deal With Terrible Companies (Or, How to Get Your Way)
Buying cleaning supplies is par for the course here. Funding has gotten so low that teachers are either relying on parents or digging into their own pockets to pay for supplies. This puts a huge strain on parents that are already strapped. In my state, class size cannot get about 25 kids per class but I agree with you–it is hard for a kid to learn when the teacher is constantly distracted. A lot of the classes are starting to have aides to help manage the classroom but sometimes it’s just not enough.
I’m also a product of public schools and taught in public schools. I really believe it is the teachers and administration that makes any school: public or private worthwhile. I don’t think I’d ever spend $ on private schools either as I don’t want my children living in a bubble.
Brent Pittman recently posted…Calvin Coolidge: A Model President for a New Generation
I think there are ways for kids who go to private school to not live a bubble. I can’t say that I’m going to develop some snobby exclusivity attitude because my kids goes to private school (this does happen) but given the situation with our public schools, I will not send her to them. Would I prefer her to attend public schools? Yes. Will this happen where we currently live? Hell, no!
Wow, best of luck! I have a lot of friends who have gone through similar experiences trying to get their kids into good schools. It’s crazy how competitive it is. One of my friends sold their house to move into a neighborhood with a better school system and even then it wasn’t a guarantee their kids could get in. Fortunately things worked out for them but most people don’t have that option to just pick up and move like that. -Sydney
Untemplater recently posted…You Don’t Have To Be Famous To Be A Rockstar
I look at it this way. It could be worse. We could live in Manhattan where the waiting list starts when the kids are in the womb and the tuition costs more than buying a house in cash. But we’re doing exactly what you’re friend did (provided things work out)–we’re planning on selling the house and moving into a better district. Hopefully it’ll be an easy sell and the private school thing isn’t necessary.
The public school system is so sad – I wish all areas could just have good schools. The lottery you posted about is crazy but I guess they’re trying to be “fair”. Good luck with your plans; I hope you’re able to put her in a great school.
Young Professional Finances recently posted…How I Make More Than $100,000 At 25