How much would you sacrifice to afford private school?

[Heavenly]

We have been homeschooling but are planning on putting our kids in school for September 2008. The school we have chosen is a small private Christian school that sounds like exactly what we are looking for. The tuition for both of our older children will be $8990 Canadian total. We are both full-time students living on student funding but we are determined to make this work. We are applying for a grant available in Ontario which would cover 50% of the tuition but even if we don't get it we are going to try to go ahead with enrolling them in this school. At the end of 2009 DH will be done school and will be making a very good wage so at that point tuition won't be a problem but until then if we put them in this school it will mean no extras at all - no camping, no movies, no eating out, no treats, no new clothes for the adults, only thrift store clothes for the kids (we mostly do that anyways), and no any other possible extra you can think of. My MIL thinks we are insane and that we should just use public school because it is free. There are many reasons why we do not want to do that. So how much are you willing to sacrifice to put your kids in private school?

[kmeyrick]

I know many parents who wound up sacrificing all you listed and more- they worked three jobs! You're both students, so you'd feel the heat anyway. Healthy, happy kids who are learning outweighs any treats.

[UUMom]

By the time your dh graduates, the tution is likely to be over 10k, which is nearly 1k/month. If you can afford that, it's nobody's biz but yours.

[velochic]

We are older than you... I've had a great career for 15 years and now SAH most of the time and dh is in his 50's and earns very good money, so we don't have to sacrifice nearly what you are talking about. But dd's education is probably THE most important issue for us after her well-being and happiness and for that reason, assuming she remains happy at her private school, we would make most any material sacrifice for her to stay in this school. I suppose the ONLY thing we'd not sacrifice at this point is our aggressive savings for retirement. Her school is about 45 minutes from our house, so we sacrifice a lot of time and gas money in addition to tuition money (which is well over $10K US). If education is that important to you, it doesn't seem like a sacrifice, but rather a priortization of where your funds go.

[kofduke]

I guess it depends on how strong and what your reasons are for not wanting to use the public school, and how much better the private school will be. My public district is outstanding, so I might consider a private school if the opportunity presented itself to me, but I probably wouldn't go much out of my way for it.

[jlpumkin]

For us private school is worth the sacrifice. It's a personal decision. I know that switching schools isn't ideal, but whatever decision you make doesn't have to be permanent. We say we are taking one year at a time. Though we waffle between homeschooling and private school.

[Dragonfly]

That's a tough question to answer. I would sacrifice any amount of material goods, live in a tiny place (well, we already do that and are surprisingly comfortable ), etc. However, I live in an area where just living is expensive and the standard tuition for private school is around $20,000/year. For me, the sacrifice would be getting a job in a private firm that would keep me from spending any quality time with my son. I'm not willing to make that sacrifice... not now, anyway. If public school was endangering him somehow, then I probably would. If it's just not perfect, then no.

[muse]

Originally Posted by jlpumkin

Though we waffle between homeschooling and private school.

Another waffler here

We have been homeschooling with a brief 2 week attempt at public school. We saw enought of that to know it's either hs or private school for us.

We have been considering for some time an alternative arts based school for a number of reasons but every time it comes down to sending in the deposit I think of how we could spend that money otherwise (travel, arts supplies, field trips, museums, classes, etc), how much less I would see both my kids because I'd have to work to pay for it, and how much freedom we lose all around, not to mention never being able to save money or buy a house, and - so far - we just haven't been able to make those sacrifices (though it's a daily discussion).

We're looking at one of the *cheapest* schools here where we would do 100 co-op work hours a yr AND with financial aid we're still talking about paying 7,000 a yr. Add in 5-6,000 for preschool or for dd to go to the school in a few years, add it up over the elementary school years (we're assuming we'd switch to public for middle and high), and wowzer, that's a LOT of money.

Of course, I'm comparing hs with school; if hs was not an option we would just make those sacrifices to make sure the kids were in a system that was supportive and where they would thrive and unfortunately I know that would not be public school at this point.

[LiamnEmma]

A lot. I have every intention of sending at least ds to a very expensive prep school that currently costs 40K/year when he hits high school (he's in third grade). To that end, we began sending him to their summer camp last summer for science. We'll send both children this year and see how dd does. She is far more social than he is and may do better at a more rounded school so we'll see what we think about sending her as time goes. But I truly believe this will be the best high school for him and I'm already figuring out how we'll do it.

[Jenlaana]

it really depends on exactly how much you like the school... I dont think there is any across the board answer to this one. Some public schools are fantastic, truly. They are set up in areas where the parents have money and the school is financially set, and they really are parent driven, as far as how the school is run. Then there are the bad schools that really suck. then there's all the ones in between.

If you know for a fact that there is no other place you can put your kid, obviously you'll pay any amount of money to put them there. Its just a matter of what is the right choice for YOUR family.

[GuildJenn]

I have a different perspective on this I guess. My parents did sacrifice for my private high school experience. It was a fantastic school and definitely a huge bonus in my life... but the dynamics around it were bad.

I think a lot of it depends on your and your DP's capacity to live that simply with enjoyment. If the tuition is going to make you constantly stressed, and the lack of minor luxuries is going to be something you come to resent, I would seriously look for a different way.

Because education is wonderfully important, but if a child or children feel that they are a burden (which is how they might interpret financial stress over tuition), that can be a pretty big issue to overcome. Also, education is a many year process, so if you can't swing the tuition this year, you may be able to in another year or two and your children can benefit at that point.

[lindberg99]

I like our public school so as of right now, I'm not willing to make any sacrifices to send our kids to private school.

[Belleweather]

We'd do it. In fact, we're going to have to. I know a lot of people say "Well, I wouldn't, because you can find a public school that is just fine..." but most of the things that scare me about public school aren't mitigated by increased funding or parent involvement, and are federally mandated (3 Strikes Laws, NCLB) so the ONLY way out for us is a private school. Especially since our School Board and teacher's union are overtly unfriendly to any whiff of Charter Schools in our district. I just don't feel like we have a choice. And I can't think of anything I'd rather invest in than my children's education.

[snowyowl]

We only have one child so paying for tuition hasn't been too hard on as long as we make a few sacrifices. The big things are that we don't have a car and we rarely go on vacation. (I travel quite a bit for research/professional development so that eats into our budget, too.) To be honest though, I think we would have made those choices anyway. What is worrying me is the cost of private high school. We're saving up but that is on top of investing for her post-secondary education.