Private school tuition

[damontucker]

Re: Private school tuition

Good observation...

I know kids too that don't want to go to private school.
I wish kids on the Big Island had more options.

Charters Schools is what basically was brought about because of peoples wishes like this...

[MadAzza]

Re: Private school tuition

My daughter's grammar school does not even have a computer teacher this year. WSF was dreamed up by some utopian moron with no economics education.

Why does *any* grammar school need a "computer teacher"? OMG, are you serious? What does a fifth-grader need to learn about computers that she can't learn on her own? Plug it in and go! Does a kid that age need to learn how to write missile-launch programs for the Department of Defense, or what?

[John Maple]

Re: Private school tuition

Why does *any* grammar school need a "computer teacher"? OMG, are you serious? What does a fifth-grader need to learn about computers that she can't learn on her own? Plug it in and go! Does a kid that age need to learn how to write missile-launch programs for the Department of Defense, or what?

The beeping ghost of Sputnik would suggest otherwise.

I think serious computer education (meaning computer programming, not just "how to use Word" tutorials) should be part of a basic 21st century education. It'd probably be a better use of class time than teaching cursive.

[sinjin]

Re: Private school tuition

My son's first opportunity to take computer class came at the tender age of two. Most of us can barely imagine the world he will know at twenty. I let him take the classes.

[TuNnL]

Re: Private school tuition

For the other 80%, it makes no difference.

This is where I disagree with you and agree with mānoasurfer123 for a change. Like him, I think if a smart parent had the money he/she would feel compelled to send their child to private school. SouthKona makes the point that some private schools are worse than others. A valid point, but remember, if you have the money, you can fly them to O‘ahu (or move there) if need be. Or, they could stay with Aunty. So really, it’s still about money, not geography.

Bottom line, I would disagree that you can get the same product pound for pound in a public vs. private school education comparison. Those who achieved great things in the DOE took the long route, the road less traveled, the hard road, whatever you want to call it. The odds were stacked against them and they had to sacrifice and labor much more than the one that went Punahou or ‘Iolani.

To borrow from timkona, ANYONE can succeed. Qualifier for timkona: but their parents have to have kālā.

[timkona]

Re: Private school tuition

TunnL, I've read two posts now wherein you basically have agreed with me.

Are you feeling okay?

My parents had no money, and yet, that is precisely what has motivated me to work like a machine for the last 20 years.

[waioli kai]

Re: Private school tuition

jessicat -- But teachers in public schools are very willing to put in extra time for the students. They stay after school, come in early, give up their lunches to tutor students, or stay in their classes to let students hold a club meeting in their room. --

Keeping on what seems up to this point to be a disscussion primarily about K-12 education:

As of yet at any rate, not having yet been a public school teacher in any fashion whatsoever, my credulity gets a little stretched to accept that public teachers, even private school teachers, as a whole " are very willing to put in extra time for the students ... stay after school, come in early, give up their lunches to tutor students."

As a whole, teachers should be as respectfully compensated as should be nurses in health care. Why should the nurses of our childrens' mental care ever be nickle-and-dimed in order to feed the black hole of fears and insecurties our central government has nurtured to its present state of insatiable appetite for delusional power and security? This must be how every so-called "great nation" perishes: in delusions of grandeur, delusions of reality, delusions of theology, delusions of righteousness wherin the rulers exist for themselves as if they alone are their nation while their nation's children are mere statistics, numbers, projections of potential employees, incomes, tax revenue to apply to effectively infinite financial, physical, ecological, spiritual debt service and sacrifice.

--But a lot of the times, public schools offer the same services that private schools do, it's just a matter of taking advantage of them.--

When the one and only bus or other ride home leaves soon after last period, it's hard to take advantage of public schools' after-regular-classes' activities, clubs, sports, even just a single longer than a dozen seconds one-on-one with the teacher,, or, longer than a lunch break with an aquaintance or even most, if not virtually all, classmates.

--I'm just saying that you learn to be self sufficient in a public school.--

Middle school and high school boarders are non-existent in public schools. Students who live 24/7 with their peers get to be pretty independent compared to peers who live lives exclusively at the home of their parents. In either case someone else is paying the bills, and "self-sufficiency" is, with very rare exception, necessarily not to be used in economic context.

-- I wish all the politicians put their kids in public schools-- I bet they'd pay a little more attention to them.--

Pay more attention to their kids? public schools? both?

[Pua'i Mana'o]

Re: Private school tuition

this thread weirds me out.

Doesn't any parent work with their own kids anymore? I chose Hawaiian immersion for my family, which is, in many respects, a private education for free.

-strong parental involvement
-teachers who go above and beyond what their contract requires of them, because they consider their work to be part of a community comprised of their students and parents
-a belief that for our children to succeed, it takes a village.

People like me work with our kids. Put our kids in all sorts of extra curricular activities to broaden their horizons. Purchased supplemental materials (mahalo to the homeschoolers who are of such a critical mass that there is a sizeable industry producing a variety of curriculum) and work with our kids. And spend money on tutoring to give our kids that extra edge.

Work with our kids. Learn how they learn. And spend that time with them. That kind of committment is irreplaceable, believe me.

[SouthKona]

Re: Private school tuition

Like him, I think if a smart parent had the money he/she would feel compelled to send their child to private school. SouthKona makes the point that some private schools are worse than others. A valid point, but remember, if you have the money, you can fly them to O‘ahu (or move there) if need be. Or, they could stay with Aunty. So really, it’s still about money, not geography.

Fortunately, I am a smart parent AND I have the money for private school tuition, but the decision on the best placement for a child entails much more than just the consideration of dollars! And, for those of us who wish to raise our own children, in our own homes, with direct parental influence and love, well, shipping them off to Oahu to "live with Aunty" does not even weigh into our lives.

[TuNnL]

Re: Private school tuition

Doesn't any parent work with their own kids anymore? ...People like me work with our kids... and spend money on tutoring to give our kids that extra edge... That kind of committment is irreplaceable, believe me.

In the same post you have both made my point and given me even more compelling ammunition. So you agree, money is an issue. Many simply don’t have an extra dime to pay for tutoring. And as far as spending more time with their kids, I’m sure those of us working 60+ hours a week to make ends meet, are crying inside because they want to do it and they can’t.

I believe in homeschooling. But not if you have a job. Society today gloriflies employment and really discourages individuals from being self-supporting. The it takes a village mentality only makes sense if you as a parent are a big part of it. Otherwise the home becomes just another building in the village. Way to confuse your keiki.

[blueyecicle]

Re: Private school tuition

In the same post you have both made my point and given me even more compelling ammunition. So you agree, money is an issue. Many simply don’t have an extra dime to pay for tutoring. And as far as spending more time with their kids, I’m sure those of us working 60+ hours a week to make ends meet, are crying inside because they want to do it and they can’t.

I believe in homeschooling. But not if you have a job. Society today gloriflies employment and really discourages individuals from being self-supporting. The it takes a village mentality only makes sense if you as a parent are a big part of it. Otherwise the home becomes just another building in the village. Way to confuse your keiki.

I feel Society really looks down on homeschooling for the most part....I have more people that come and criticize me homeschooling my boys simply because of this "What about socializing your children?".
No one even looks at the fact that all 3 of my boys are grades ahead of any public school student and they are behave properly for the most part (they are boys!) and are happy.

But we have made tremendous sacrifices to homeschool our boys. It is simply not an option for most people now days. I would love to put my kids in Private school rather than homeschool but we cannot afford it no matter how we juggle the finances. So this is our alternative.

[Pua'i Mana'o]

Re: Private school tuition

In the same post you have both made my point and given me even more compelling ammunition. So you agree, money is an issue. Many simply don’t have an extra dime to pay for tutoring. And as far as spending more time with their kids, I’m sure those of us working 60+ hours a week to make ends meet, are crying inside because they want to do it and they can’t.

I believe in homeschooling. But not if you have a job. Society today gloriflies employment and really discourages individuals from being self-supporting. The it takes a village mentality only makes sense if you as a parent are a big part of it. Otherwise the home becomes just another building in the village. Way to confuse your keiki.

You have simplified my greater point for the sake of making yours.

Two pages into this argument and so far it settles onto the monetary aspects of this equation as if success = money + private school. But for people like me, what we want for our children hasn't anything to do with public or private institutions.

I want my children to be critical thinkers with high levels of emotional intelligence. I see Hawaiian immersion as a fantastic way to achieve that. Bilingual skills by their very nature juxtaposes the brain between different languages, social situations, cultural contexts, etc. In my experience, private vs public schooling doesn't frame success or failure. My argument centers on a parent's time spent on his/her child.

Turn off the tv and sit at the dinner table and work on homework with the kids. Read up on how children learn and employ new ideas. Tutoring at Kumon costs ≈$80/month, which is downright affordable. Fancier tutors cost over $25//hr, but that is still a lot less than a private school tuition. Or a book like "Phonics Pathways" costs $20 and it is yours to use with your kid until s/he gets it. There are many options outside of "public vs private schools".

I am not a homeschooler, but I am glad that they are out there, because it gives me an opportunity to research and buy materials for my kids that are outside the scope of their educational experience. This is not limited to Hawaiian immersion; if your kids are in either public or secular private schools and you would like an age-appropriate introduction to science that matches your religious views, there are books out there that do just that.

I am talking about the #1 gripe of all teachers, no matter who their boss is: committed parents increase their children's chance for success.

[damontucker]

Re: Private school tuition

I want my children to be critical thinkers with high levels of emotional intelligence.

Very well said Pua'i,

I like that... critical thinkers part.

I know many homeschool kids that have gone onto college and done much better than private or publicly schooled children.

It requires a lot of time and resources to homeschool a child successfully.

Public schools do the best they can... and sometimes that's just not enough for certain kids.

There are some social things that I don't want to confuse the issue with...

I try to be a critical thinker... however, sometimes it backfires and I'm actually critized for trying to be a critical thinker...which sucks

[SouthKona]

Re: Private school tuition

committed parents increase their children's chance for success.

YES YES YES!

Instead of taking parents to task over their decisions on private, public, charter, or home schooling, what really needs to be addressed is why, in many cases, students need to opt out of public school in order to have an excellent education. The question is what is wrong with the Hawaii DOE system that drives many parents to place their children in alternative school environments instead of having confidence in the standard DOE classroom?

Why aren't all the DOE learning opportunities up to the standard of private school academics? What can be done to fix it? Does the DOE really even care? (This is NOT a complaint about staff & teachers, it is focused on the administration at the decision making level.) And, it is not a matter of having enough money - Hawaii has the money - but it does involve how much is allocated to public education.

[damontucker]

Re: Private school tuition

The question is what is wrong with the Hawaii DOE system that drives many parents to place their children in alternative school environments instead of having confidence in the standard DOE classroom?

IMHO - Beauracracy... it takes to much time to get something done at almost every level of DOE, including educating the child.

As people retire and the public insist on changes... Hawaiis education will get better. There are too many people in high ranking positions that refuse to learn new concepts and are stuck in their old dick and jane teaching methods and what not... and they can be because of "seniority"

Until this passes... and we have a new generation of educators that truly do care about change... Hawaii will be lacking for at least another 10-20 years.