Why do rich people send their kids to private school when the public school options are just as good?

rich people be crazy wrote:

I often see rich people send their kids to private schools. Often, the private schools aren’t as good academically as the local public school, which the parents are paying for anyway. Is it for some misplaced “prestige” factor?

rich people certainly do be crazy. just like poor people. Actually, most people be crazy.

But you have to back up your claim with some data. Which public schools are better than their complementary private school? By which metric are we comparing?

In my experience, my peers have paid dearly for private, typically-religion-backed schools. Classes had a better student/teacher ratio and much, much more parent involvement outside of school hourse, e.g. fund raisers, school carnivals, etc.

If you can't see why people would send their kids to private school, then you haven't done much research at all, have you?

I'd give you about a 3.50/10.

You obviously are not in California.

You and your kids become friends with other rich people who help keep both of you rich throughout your long lives. It's who, not what, you know.

Alternate Reality wrote:

You obviously are not in California.

10/10.

1) fear of minorities

2) fear their child is stupid

3) belief their child is special

4) belief people will think and care that they are poor

What a double standard. You can freely bash rich people, but no one would think it was okay to go around saying that poor people “be crazy.”

the list wrote:

1) fear of minorities

2) fear their child is stupid

3) belief their child is special

4) belief people will think and care that they are poor

Private schools full of Asians and Indians, so not sure if they can protect their kids from minorities.

The esteemed New England private schools exist so that parents can choose what kind of people their kids go to school with and supposedly to improve chances at getting into Harvard, Yale, Amherst and such. They probably offer a better "classical" education than most public schools. But I grew up in the kind of wealthy town people moved to BECAUSE of the highly regarded public school system, and when I got to an Ivy League school, I found the prep kids to be far more boorish, to have a sense of entitlement they didn't deserve, and, well...more of them tended to be drunks.

because Rumson Fair Haven HS is a gang infested nightmare

only a lunatic would send their kid there

rich people be crazy wrote:

I often see rich people send their kids to private schools. Often, the private schools aren’t as good academically as the local public school, which the parents are paying for anyway. Is it for some misplaced “prestige” factor?

Well, I would say more often than not the private schools are better, but I heard an interview with a conservative pundit talking about Brett Kavanaugh and Georgetown Prep. He addressed this question.

Some background.

First, Georgetown Prep is not close to Georgetown or connected to Georgetown either the section of DC or the university at all.

Second, it is located in Bethesda, MD which this pundit says has some of the best public schools in the US. He lives there and sent all three of his kids to Bethesda high schools and all went to (as he put it) prestigious universities.

It is interesting to note that Neil Gorsuch went to Georgetown Prep and I have seen other powerful/influential people who have gone there like Chris Dodd and other politicians.

This pundit's explanation was that you are paying for your kids to get into a circle they otherwise would not have.

So, I went to a private high school. The high school I would have gone to had only recently been accredited and my parents heard bad things about it. Since all my friends from 8th grade went I did talk with them and I could have gotten a good education there, but there was also a lot of BS. I might not have done so well in that sort of a situation.

In my smallish town it was less about getting in the right circles than it was about the public schools being integrated. (Okay so maybe the thought is about getting in the right circles).

caller outer of double standards wrote:

What a double standard. You can freely bash rich people, but no one would think it was okay to go around saying that poor people “be crazy.”

Doofus. Poor people be crazy is a LRC staple. I hate it because it is true of my background (ex poor people go to Disney world, poor people leave there TV on when they aren't watching it.)

the list wrote:

1) fear of minorities

Private schools are allowed to discriminate based on race?

It’s a difference in culture. Money spent on private schools isn’t just for the education, it’s the quality of kids going there too.

I went to a private school before high school, and it’s a night and day difference.

I went to all my education, K-12 and College, at a private school (religious is both cases). I now work at a fancy/expensive private school (non-religious).

Not a legal expert wrote:

the list wrote:

1) fear of minorities

Private schools are allowed to discriminate based on race?

No, but many/most private schools are white and expensive which often steers minorities away. Our school is trying hard to build diversity and it's hard to get folks to walk in the door, even when we're giving money away.

the list wrote:

1) fear of minorities

2) fear their child is stupid

3) belief their child is special

4) belief people will think and care that they are poor

All these above are fairly true. For 2) the reality is that private schools are often dumping grounds for struggling (academic/social/emotional) kids from middle-upper class families looking for a "solution." 3) is very true; hoping their child will be more challenged and also more recognized in a small environment

There are many other reasons:

00) Religious reasons

0) Poor local public schools - this is becoming more common as wealth shifts and consolidates, leaving districts with lower funding and a weaker, less-supported group of students.

1) Desire for close attention, increased control and increased involvement for your child's education - student/teacher ratio and lack of government curriculum control are big for some people

2) Tradition: previous family members went there. Very common for boarding schools.

3) Social circle/social outcome - positioning your child to grow up and develop a [supposedly] ideal social circle/outcome when they become an adult.

4) Lifestyle flexibility - pulling your kids out of school, travelling, "special" sports and activities are easier to work with in a private school

5) Parents social/business positioning - parents want to appear in the right crowd or want to attract clients through the school circle (real estate agents, architects, builders, especially)

6) Grandparents - some family member, usually grandparents, wants the kid in the "BEST" school and is footing the bill

7) "Get what you pay for" - some people are just rich enough (or not rich enough...) and dumb enough that they truly believe that paying for something makes it inherently better. As if the "free" public education is unbearably horrible.

Not a legal expert wrote:

the list wrote:

1) fear of minorities

Private schools are allowed to discriminate based on race?

Yes - just look at Harvard, Yale, etc.

They have been proven to discriminate against Asians in favor of blacks, hispanics, jews.

I went to a Catholic high school because my parents are Irish Catholics and it was a good fit for me. Also my town's public high school had around 300 kids, compared to the Catholic one with around 900. 300 is too small for high school.

yeuuep wrote:

Not a legal expert wrote:

Private schools are allowed to discriminate based on race?

Yes - just look at Harvard, Yale, etc.

They have been proven to discriminate against Asians in favor of blacks, hispanics, jews.

You forgot about whites. There would be no whites at those schools if they didn't limit the numbers of Asians coming in.

I learned Latin and Greek in my private high school. The public equivalent had a shop/home ec requirement instead.

Fast forward 25 years, I don't cook much and can't change my own oil, but I have no trouble paying someone to do either.

There was a recent story about a highly recruited runner at a ver fancy private school.

He allegedly committed a pretty serious crime against another younger student. A wrestler was involved, too.

Instead of these guys going to jail or facing charges, they were allowed to withdraw from fancy school and enroll in regular public schools in their home state.

That's why