Changing Schools

[Pollyanna]

Just to add in another consideration. Catholic school is great UNLESS it is less than Catholic and they are not teaching Church doctrine. If you have to "unteach" the faith stuff you'd be better off sending them to a secular school. Our oldest famously said of her catholic (little C) HS in AZ, "sometimes it's really hard to be Catholic at this school"

[SuzySunshine]

Just to add in another consideration. Catholic school is great UNLESS it is less than Catholic and they are not teaching Church doctrine. If you have to "unteach" the faith stuff you'd be better off sending them to a secular school. Our oldest famously said of her catholic (little C) HS in AZ, "sometimes it's really hard to be Catholic at this school"

To be honest I think this school may have the opposite problem - I think because their religious teaching is SO good the parents are ignoring the rest...that seems really backwards to me because I CAN teach the religious stuff if I have to or they can do Wednesday night Catechesis or youth group but I can't teach them the first thing about test prep, chemistry, etc...

[SoonerTexan]

The entire state's public school system is a mess! There is currently a lawsuit going on where the districts say the state is underfunding them. To be honest, no we have not toured the local public school. We kind of saw it as a fall back if the catholic school didn't work out or if the kids needed something else and now, of course, this has become an issue. But we bought in this district knowing it was the "first or second best" district in the state.

It seems like that is sort of the case everywhere though--are school districts funded by property taxes from local area in KS? TX isn't exactly the posterchild for funding schools lately, but somehow the better off districts still seem to do just fine...in fact on of the high schools in the district I graduated from is giving every student an iPad this year. Teachers still flock there, etc. It might be worth touring and considering in the younger years--it would give you a chance to save up for the pricier school later on.

[SuzySunshine]

The local levies are funded and have stayed about the same for the last five years is my understanding. I have no idea when a new one was last voted on. This was from almost two years ago and my understanding it has gotten worse, not better.

Governor's Budget Plan Includes Funding Cuts for SchoolsEarlier this week, Governor outlined his plans for education and proposed a budget to address the state’s financial issues. To accomplish this, Governor has proposed a funding plan that could have serious consequences for K-12 public schools in Kansas. The governor’s budget proposes to reduce the base state aid per pupil (BSAPP) by $75 for the current year and cut base funding by an additional $157 per student for fiscal year 2012(FY12). The recommended reduction would result in a BSAPP figure of $3,780 for the 2011-12 school year.


Our initial review of the proposal indicates the reductions in funding to our school district would be significant. According to state department of education data and our calculations, District will likely receive a cut of $2.6 million in state funds for the current school year. The district would receive a reduction of $5.7 million for the 2011-2012 school year, which is further compounded by a reduction of federal funds to the school district totaling approximately $4.5 million.


Over the past two years, we have reduced our budget by $20 million, which included trimming our staff by nearly 100 teachers for this year. To address further cuts in, the District will likely be faced with personnel cuts, program reductions, and increases in class size.

[peggyfromwastate]

Wow. That has NOT been our experience, at all. None of our kids' activities have been anywhere in the neighborhood of any of this. I'm thinking this might be location specific?

Lol dd--- when I read Pollyanna's take I was like "preach it!" Until I hit music lessons then I was like--- "no way--- our lessons are at least $45 per half hour. Minimum.

[peggyfromwastate]

I've read through it all... This is the cool thing about switching schools and mixing up extracurriculars--- my dd17 grew up in an area known for strong public school, but also where it's very common for kids to move a lot. Sometimes they live with mom for a year to go to school A. Sometimes they live with an aunt for school B. Dd17 switched middle and high schools. Anyway--- the cool thing is that she pretty much knows someone wherever she goes in the town. And if she doesn't know them exactly, they have a friend in common. Coming from small town usa, I found this so cool.

My middle schoolers are developing this pattern now with friends from church and swim team. The school friends are only a small part of the social scene. Facebook and social media as a whole has changed the dynamics of kids relationships a lot. I am continually blown away by how different social strata is in the high school and middle school world.

And the only place where my first was truly miserable was the kindergarten from our church that had very small class sizes but unfortunately there was a clique of mean girls who just didn't like my dd. She spent a year being excluded pretty much. I know that point was made here--- I just wanted to say "yesss!" To that.

Hang in there.

If it were me if save the $. I just would.

[Flynn]

Lol dd--- when I read Pollyanna's take I was like "preach it!" Until I hit music lessons then I was like--- "no way--- our lessons are at least $45 per half hour. Minimum.

Us too. I used to read stuff here think, "NO WAY" kids stuff is that expensive. No freakin' way. I was wrong.

We pay about 400 dollars per kid per season (only two out of our three kids do stuff right now....). A season is about 10 weeks...maybe 12 with a few holidays in between. For us there is Fall, Winter, and Spring. I'm not counting summer stuff either. DD's voice lessons this summer were less expensive than usual and we paid 240$ for a 30 minute lesson once a week for 8 weeks.

[peggyfromwastate]

Another thing to consider--- your kids might (possibly) develop some physical condition or something which requires medication. Or you might. Who knows. I don't know what your Rx coverage is like now, but I trust nothing in healthcare right now. I am considering in my financial planning being able to support my kids' meds in the future should we lose coverage. Each of my sons requires around $1000-1300 worth of meds per month. My diabetic son is probably the only one who "needs" them for survival, but for mental health and QOL my other son definitely needs his also. Just he wouldn't physically die without the meds.

A sad sad thought--- but something else to consider.

[houseelf]

If you are doing this for the "BEST" education, meaning actual education delivered as opposed to religious education and/or community, there was a fascinating article in Money magazine about 10 years ago that opined that after controlling for variables like socioeconomic status and admission selection process, there was no quantitative difference in the testing results of upper middle class kids in better public school districts versus tuition based private schools. I've tried to google it but it is late. Perhaps someone else can sleuth this out. Before this convo goes waaaay off the rails, full disclousure necessitates that the association of independent schools refuted the study on which this article was based AND there are people who remain firmly convinced of the educational experience delivered in both camps.

For me, it's all about the best community and education delivered. In one potential location, the only school I felt comfortable with was a private day school. Let's just say that it is an obnoxious expenditure, but it is a price of doing business in that locale. In the other two locations, we're leaning strongly towards public education. We're in a great school district here, but I'm not afraid to supplement when I feel like something extra is needed. (Ergo, I spend about $600/month per child on tutoring, music lessons, enrichment summer camps, and activities).

Just one more facet for you to consider.

[SuzySunshine]

Our FA came back and said yes, we can afford this and still fund our retirement assuming DH's salary stays constant. It doesn't have to go up but it has to stay the same. Of course if it doesn't a lot do things would have to change, not just this decision.

I don't know what to do, this hasn't made the decision any easier.

[Pollyanna]

That's great Cheri! I really get the feeling that you live school B, you see your children there but are uncomfortable with the price. My advice is to stop thinking and just go with your gut.

[spotty_dog]

What I'm hearing from you, here and on FB, is that Common Core has you in a real tizzy. Which is completely valid, it is getting a ton of negative attention! But what, exactly, is your biggest concern? Is it something you can articulate, other than feeling like it was sprung on you unawares?

When my son started kindergarten last fall, parents were given a list of standards and informed that this was the knowledge the teacher aimed for them to have by the end of the year. Stuff like knowing all the letter sounds, counting to 100, being able to parse a story into beginning/middle/end. We were also told that the school was in transition to new standards, so the exact goals might shift a little bit in the course of the year. I don't feel like the standards made any practical difference as a parent. I can go on my state's education site and find documents that break down the exact differences between the new CCSS and the old state standards. Do you have something like that available for your state? In the end I feel like the biggest valid complaint is that the more rigorous standards imply more rigorous testing, which implies more consequences for students, teachers, and schools based on the results of those tests, and more class time devoted to teaching for tests and administering tests.

So if it were me with the school choice to make, I think that I would make testing the crux of my concern. But I still believe pretty strongly that parent involvement, child motivation, and teacher quality -- in that order -- will be what drives the difference between a well-educated high school graduate and one who makes it to college with an inadequate foundation for success.

[SuzySunshine]

We've decided to stay where we're at for several reasons and reassess as needed as we learn how the kids learn and what works best for them. I really appreciate you all being a sounding board for neurotic me!

[houseelf]

awesome. These decisions are so hard and sometimes you just need to talk, talk, talk it out as you're going through it. We've all been there. It is such a process.

[Pollyanna]

awesome. These decisions are so hard and sometimes you just need to talk, talk, talk it out as you're going through it. We've all been there. It is such a process.

Omgoodness, this is sooooo true!!