Private vs. Public School: Is it really worth the money?

When I was doing research for my first book, The Parent’s Guide to Private School in Hawaii, I found that almost everyone I talked to, blindly, believed that a private school education was better than a public school education in Hawaii.

If I asked the question, “If private school and public school cost the same amount, where would you send your child to get the best education? The answer was almost unanimous. Parents would choose private school.

Asked a different question: “Do you think private schools are really worth the money?” I would get some different answers. Some said, yes. Others said, no. Still others, it depends.

And who can blame them? Do the math! If you have a child enrolled at one of the top private schools in Hawaii from kindergarten through grade 12, that’s roughly $195,000 ($15k x 13 years) for an education that does not even include preschool or college!!!

Add preschool and a second child to your family and you have spent, roughly $420,000 on your children’s primary education.

Is it worth it? My answer is, unequivocally: It depends.

It depends on how much of a financial hardship, scheduling nightmare, driving headache, inconvenience, it will be on you and your family to pay for and drive daily to and from a school that is not near your home. It depends on your reasons for choosing a school. Does it offer a program your child needs that cannot be met at a public school? It depends on what your other options are within your home district. It depends on whether your extended family will help with finances and scheduling. These things, and many more need to be taken into consideration.

Surprisingly, (in spite of the subject of my first book) I am a HUGE proponent and supporter of public schools in general. I am also one of the first to admit that the system in Hawai‘i is broken.

I wrote The Parent’s Guide to Private School in Hawaii NOT because I think everyone should send their child to a private school, but because I realized almost every parent in the state was struggling with the same dilemma and, while all public school information is public information-most available on line, private schools have no rules to abide by in deciding what to tell you.

At first glance, they all say their programs are “good,” their teachers “great,” their facilities “above average” and their test scores “awesome.” And while there are some great (even spectacular) private schools in this state, there are also some that are unaccredited and using untried curriculum, but still charging thousands of dollars a year. I thought parents should have all the information before they decided.

The truth is, there are still some very good public schools in the Islands. (Some of the best are listed in the back section of The Parent’s Guide to Private School in Hawaii in a section titled: Other Options.) These schools are good (not due to any D.O.E. standards and No Child Left Behind doctrines) but because of huge parental and community support.

I firmly believe that families should NOT be forced to make the choice between spending thousands of dollars a year in tuition OR giving their child a poor education, in an unsafe environment. And so, I believe in supporting all efforts to make our public schools better (including trashing the current $2.7 billion a year system and starting over, but they never go for that idea!) So instead, I am on the board of a local charter school, I attend school board meetings; all three of my children have spent some time at public schools. I contribute to fundraisers and community projects that support my local schools. I support charter schools and the great things they are doing.

All that said, I do think there are times when private school is worth it and I will get into that in my very next post here.

In the meantime, please share your thoughts on Private School versus Public School: Is it really worth the money?