Applications Steady, Aid Up at Private Schools
Contrary to what you might expect, demand for private schools did not decline this year in response to the tanking economy. One possible explanation offered by a Daily News article today? Parents are worried that the confluence of government budget problems and lower disposable incomes will lead to overpopulation and underperformance of public schools. As…
Contrary to what you might expect, demand for private schools did not decline this year in response to the tanking economy. One possible explanation offered by a Daily News article today? Parents are worried that the confluence of government budget problems and lower disposable incomes will lead to overpopulation and underperformance of public schools. As a result, more parents in private schools are doing whatever it takes to come up with the tuition. Not surprisingly, applications for financial aid have increased. We have gotten more financial aid inquiries, said Ruth Scharf, president of the Manhattan-based Parents League. Yet overall we find that families are committed to educating their children and they are going to find a way to do this. Any tales of parents bailing from private schools in Brooklyn?
Without going anywhere near a debate about whether private is better than public or vice versa, my experience this year with Brooklyn private school applications has been this: huge demand for private school, very few spots available, and no break whatsoever in tuition or acceptance consideration due to the economy (indeed, the opposite is true: higher tuitions and more competition). What recession?
We applied to St Ann’s, Packer, BHMS, BFS, Poly, Berkeley Carroll, and Hannah Senesh. We were either wait listed (majority) or accepted. We had no rejections – we theorized that wait-listings were up due to an uncertainty by the schools as to whether they’d be alright in the downturn. What a laugh that turned out to be. It’s April 23rd and not one call from any wait list has come in. Make your own conclusions.
My son went to both public school (PS 217 in Ditmas Park) and one of the major private (unnamed) schools in Brooklyn. His experience, both academically and socially, was far better in public school. The school had higher standards for academics, a dedicated and caring faculty and staff, and a beautiful, recently renovated school building. He made friends from all over the world (and so did we!). His brother also thrived in that public school. They are both well-prepared for a future in a diverse environment. Especially for parents willing and able to spend some time in the school, a good public school will be a great choice, not to mention the savings you can put towards college.
I toured both private and public schools before deciding where to send our kids. Private would have been a huge stretch for us, and frankly, I’m not sure we could have paid without completely sacrificing everything else. We fall into that middle zone of not rich enough to really afford private school but too rich to qualify for much (if any) aid, primarily because we owned our own home at the time. My biggest take-away was that I actually preferred the public schools. Sure, the privates had fancier facilities and higher ratio of teachers to students, but in the good elementary schools in Brooklyn – and there are quite a few (not just the famous ones) – there is so much else going on that I find truly inspiring. I certainly hope the private schools stay strong though and attract their clientele since my biggest worry about the public schools is overcrowding in the popular schools – much of which is tied to real estate i.e. too much development without enough thought about impact on schools, etc.
there is going to be an upswing in stats at decent schools that will get better as brooklyn families grow and keep their kids in local schools. some schools suffer in stats because of the low income kids or poor english speakers, not because of inherent bad administration or teaching. the families that are attentive and teach their kids will help keep good schools good and make them better.
chosen, that’s great news. i have heard as much. we live in a zone with an “up and coming” school that i’d love to feel happy out sending my kid to – seems to me that more time for sweat equity and an economic climate that encourages focus on things that really matter (quality of education, not status and conspicuous consumption) can only help. we’ll see.
i disagree, many parents are literally redirecting their resources to supplement activities in their childrens classrooms. At the begining of the school year all parents are asked to send toilet paper,paper towels and similar items. In addition, I have given money by purchasing items at school auctions, bake, book and other sales as well as giving my time. Many parents are supplementing school music, art, garden and similar programs by volunteering their services. This again is a good thing for public schools esepecailly in areas where parents have these resources. The inequity in our eduactional system on the whole though is just atrocious though and we all know that education is the great equalizer.
Colonel Steve Austin, virtually all of my colleagues who live in Manhattan send their kids to private schools and the tuitions are very similar to Packer and St. Anne’s. Maybe a few of them are in the $45-$50K range, but I believe most are closer to $30-$35K.
i agree with those who’ve said next year and the years after that will be more telling. the folks applying this year likely had already accounted for the first couple years of tuition, either through savings or family or assumed gain on their assets which they probably still have. but if jobs continue to be shed and people get more conservative with their spending, or people have to sell their homes at a loss, fewer will opt for a $35K annual expense per child, even if they have it. i’m definitely in that camp – had strongly been considering applying to private preschools next year and now probably will not, even assuming my spouse and i can keep our jobs.
by the same token, i think public schools may temporarily suffer from budget cuts, but ultimately will continue to improve. people are less mobile in this economy, and probably have more time and energy (because they have less work) to put into their local public schools. people who could have afforded some private tuition but opted for public may even help make up some of the budget shortfall. (i know a lot of this is wishful thinking, but some of it will probably happen!)
There is no doubt that all of the seats in the independent schools will be filled. Afterall NYC is one of the cities with the most millionaires per square mile but there are many people who were stretching their budgets or using theie homes as ATM’s to send their kids to these schools.
I know personally that my investments took a hit last year. Even though a lucrative defined benefit pension awaits me, I would like to recoup some of the money that I lost and jsut save more in general. I’d rather send my kids to public school and divert that elementary school tuition to their college funds.