Thanks for the input guys. I actually DO appreciate it.

I'm torn. We don't want to move to another city. My wife is one block from the hospital where she works, and it makes her life way easier. We love our neighborhood.

I'm going to do some indepth research on the public schools. Maybe a part time public/part time home schooling situation would work.

One of the reasons we sent her there for Kindergarten was her pre-school teacher last year. The woman was amazing. You might say, 'well, its just pre-school', but both the kids and the parents had a great time. She always had great projects going on, fun stuff to include parents. She actually wore a giant Minnie Mouth hair bow and rhinestone covered horn rimmed glasses all year. She was a hoot.

The gal this year.....not so much. She's not bad, but she's not that impressive either.

We have until April 30th to decide.

Seattle's public schools are, in fact, a very real disaster. So, just what, or whom, hath wrought this disaster?

I'm a native North westerner, born in Seattle and raised in Bellevue. When I was a school aged kid, Seattle was a blue collar shipping, logging, and airplane building town. It consistently won (or was very near the top of the list) "best places to live" accolades, based on things like infrastructure, population density, cost of living, housing, scenic beauty, and schools. This was through the '60's, '70's, and '80's. Today, Seattle makes no one's short list of desirable places to live. What happened?

Simple. Seattle changed from a pragmatic, laid-back, blue collar working class town to a very idealistic, uptight, white collar techie-yuppie town. As such, it has transformed into a haven for some of the most ill-conceived liberal rot extant in modern day America. Seattle is nipping at the heels of San Francisco for the number one spot at the top of the leader board for large urban liberal cesspools. One of the most visible casualties of these failed liberal policies is our public school system.

It is perversely ironic that the very yuppie liberal "intellectual" elite that are responsible for the damage are now sending their progeny, en masse, to expensive private schools. They have so thoroughly tanked the public school system in Seattle that they will no longer send their own children through it. They won't even admit their failure, continuing to conscript the children of the less well-to-do to a fatally flawed system of education, one that was concocted through their feel-good experiments in social engineering. And now they want no part of it.

If anything, one would think a true Seattle liberal would be eager to send their children through the public school system of their dreams, a public school system that captures everything they feel is important in their children's educations. They should be beating down the doors to get in. Instead, they are willing to spend $17k per year to ensure their little precious never has to endure the fruits of their failed liberal dogma. Amazing. Disgusting, really.

Some public schools really are THAT bad, but I've gotta think that there are probably less expensive private schools.

But... when I was in the 5th grade through the first half of the 8th grade, my parents sent me to a private school (actually, my grandparents paid for it) that ran about $800 a month) and that was in the early 80's. So I guess that was probably equally expensive for the time. It was a really great education.

While government schools dumb down & indoctrinate the smart kids...it's not without reason that Obama and all members of Congress send their children to private schools.

Our public schools here (Las Virgenes district) are excellent and one of the reasons we moved here; however, when the kids are getting to middle-school or high-school age we will certainly re-evaluate. I just don't see the cost/benefit at all right now but a good private high school may be in the cards. I know in my own experience, switching from public to private for HS was a positive life-changing decision (that my parents mostly made of course).

Sounds like I need to drive up to Lynnwood and buy somebody a beer. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/support/smileys/clap.gif

That's a masters degree at MIT.

That will do your kid a lot more later in life than some hottie-tottie private elementary school.

Everything Jeff said above is true.

Trust me, were not country club types. We wouldn't be sending our kid to a private school if the public schools were at least stable. But the chaos just seems to grow every year. And with huge budget cuts looming, who knows where its going?

I am currently working on a cllient's home in Pasadena. They have 3 kids, age 6,8, and 10. We just talked about this very subject 2 weeks ago. They all go to private school and they cost the owner about 90k every year. When you live in a 4500 sq'+ home built in 1914, that's just only change in the bucket. I do not find their kids too impressive after talking to them. their thing is about getting into the next expensive middle school then fight and spend like crazy trying to get into the most expensive high school and on and on into college. I know it is crazy money, but all these big bucks schools around the area are full and almost impossible to get into even if you have the money. Nuts.

Wait a minute Higgins, you calling me a liberal? :D

Parents nationwide are catching on...if it wasn't for the political clout of the teachers union, they would be shut down. Higgins nailed it! But it's not just Seattle. The rot is nationwide.

I know you don't want to move, but are the public schools in the suburbs better? Wichita has horrible public schools in the actual city of Wichita, which up until a few years ago featured bussing to better "integrate" the school district. I'll be damned if I work my ass off to watch my kids go to school in the ghetto. Our suburbs, however, have excellent award winning public schools. Needless to say, anyone in our area that sends their kids to public schools lives in the suburbs.

Why in the world do you think he's trying to impress anyone? He has laid out a case for education his child, and has asked no help from anyone to do so.

I pay about that much for two at an all-girls high school and one in elementary. But if you head to West LA, that is the going rate for one child. It's all relative, bith to location and income.

I am just curious, are we all driving around in $1000 Porsche "helmets"? Couldn't we get by with the free "public" transportation?

Whew...I thought I was getting shafted at $12K a year for my Daughters Kindergarden..I feel much better now. :D

HD we were in the same situation was you are when our oldest finished k, we decided to keep her there and she did great and is now in 4th grade. we are now applying for grade 5 and of the three schools we're looking at, overlake and forest ridge on the eastside and lakeside in seattle, its $27 a year. our younger one will be going to her present school in bellevue and like you we loved the pre thru k teacher. next year in grade one we're looking at $13k. not sure if you're in bellevue or seattle but eton school is pretty good and slightly cheaper than yours.

You welcome! :D

Thanks for the tip kanadary.

are her 'neighborhood' friends going to be bad news as she grows up or is it just the kids she'll be exposed to in public school in your area? this would be a consideration as well.

DAE i don't know what the schools in HD's area are like but private schooling is a VERY public display of financial ability (regardless of intent) and pulling kids out of a private school is, in the same way, a VERY public way of tightening one's belt. Happening all over the place now as people lose their butts and strangely enough private school seems to be the last thing (for the folks i know about in my area) they cling to because, and this has been stated clearly by more than one person in such a spot, all their 'friends' will know they have a $$ problem.

For the truly rich $17k/yr is walking around money. But for the working upper/upper middle class it's enough to give pause, even if it is 'doable'. I suggest for all but the truly rich $17k/yr for elementary school should not even be on the radar.

If I were a kept man and my wife said 'hey it's convenient for me to live here and i wanna do it'then i'd say 'you da boss' but were I the earner in the family i'd say 'i have a philosophical problem with paying somebody $17k/yr for an elementary education and we're moving to a better school district.'

Beretta - I can't say I entirely disagree with - you make some very valid points.

I will say that I know plenty of people with kids in crappy public schools around here who have single car payments in excess of what it would take to send their children to a private school. To me, it's all about choices. Plenty of people choose to let the state educate their kids while they maintain a higher standard of living at home.

We send ours to fairly "blue-collar" area private schools, and last year 100% of the seniors went on to four year colleges. First kid tuition there is about $6800 per year (plus incidentals). Second kid gets a discount, so the combined is $11K+. What's the average car payment for a soccer mom with a new Suburban or Escalade?

Hmm. I would like to propose a challenge to the elitest expensive private school parents.

Get the test that the state requires each kid above 2nd grade to take. Your kid against my kid. My 9 yr old son attends a grade school in a VERY low income city. Moss Point Mississippi.
If the test scores are not within a point of each other I will fly out there and kiss your back side.

No ass kissing necessary, but taking one kid as a comparison in purely anecdotal. Take a look instead at the aggregate scores of the two schools.

Further, private education (especially at religious schools) is about much more than academics. And those who are in it just for academics generally leave dissatisfied.

For me it's about who they hang out with, what values are taught, strong academics, and taking personal responsibility for educating the children I brought into this world. IMO, that is no one else's job but my own.