OECD report says australian private schools offer no accademic advantage

Not with the quality of schools - and accompanying quality of many of the population - in my area (read: drugs, violence, abuse, no discipline, pension mentality) ... I think my $4-5,000 year private school fees is money very well spent for her to rumble around with kids - and families - of higher moral, self responsibility and ambition.
 
It's been a while since the private vs public school debate has come up. I'm predicting pages and pages and pages of responses with all sort of anecdotes and theories to back up people's personal choices.
I might as well kick things off.
If the state schools in my area were any good, my kids would be going there. But they are rubbish, so my 14 years old goes to a private school and the younger one will follow.
Looking at private schools through the prism of academic success is a bit narrow. My 14 year old is exposed to stuff she wouldn't necessarily get at a state school - including discipline.

Disclaimer:
I went to a state school and many years ago, I taught high school - state and private. My wife recently spent two years teaching (art) at a local high school to suss it out.
 
I'd rather invest in my childrens educational future. Still plenty of opportunities to get them into the property market whilst doing this.

The 'socio-economic' factors they are talking about including the demographic and social group your children associate with, by placing them in a private school environment they are more likely to follow patterns of higher income groups, than lower income groups found in public schooling.

Theres been enough studies to show that in a childs teenage years the social and cultural diffusion from their parents reduces, whilst their peer group becomes the predominate force in their decision making processes - in a key time prior to entering the workforce/making decisions on their careers and life, I'd rather they be around the most successful peers possible.
 
Esel said:
My partner and i have decided that, we would rather help our children get a foot on the property ladder than pay for a private education.

This OECD report states that after socio-economic status is taken into account, australian students in private schools do no better than they would in a public school.

Do you think private school fees (and tax payers dollars) could be better spent elsewhere?

http://http://m.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/private-schools-more-homework-but-no-academic-advantage-says-oecd-20140909-10eghr.html
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I was brought up in the Public School system.

Our oldest son went to a Public Primary School; it was absolutely fantastic. He now goes to a Private School near us, and to be honest I can't see a marked difference in standard so far - he is in Year 7. We sent him there in the hope that the standard of humans who go there will be of a higher level than the other Public Schools on offer in our area.

Yes; I am a total snob; but teenagers are the danger years for devolving into skanky bogans and losers, and our area is full of that level of "humanity"..so we hope to deflect him from that world.

Our younger son is 4 and goes to the local Public Kindergarten - it is absolutely fantastic - but not free.

It is waaay cheaper than some of the private Kindergartens we know other kids go to in the area....there is a massive "Joneses factor" in that lot down our way.

For mine; the quality of the education doesn't necessarily match the cost.
 
BayView said:
We sent him there in the hope that the standard of humans who go there will be of a higher level than the other Public Schools on offer in our area.
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But isn't that the entire reason? Parents are justifiably scared of sending their kid to a public school because of the chance they will hang out with some dropkick who will get them addicted to drugs etc. I know people say private schools have these things too but it is surely less prevalent. Is it worth the $20-30k pa for you though? Is a house gifted to them worth more? If they aren't educated properly they would squander whatever you give them, whether it's $10k or $1m.
 
Totally agree with Bayview, CJ and depreciator ... it is so much more than the academic "education" ... although Junior is excelling in that too. :D
 
lizzie said:
Totally agree with Bayview, CJ and depreciator ... it is so much more than the academic "education" ... although Junior is excelling in that too. :D
Click to expand...

Exactly. If you hang out with losers, you become a loser too. Hang with winners, you will be a winner.
 
I cannot afford private schools, and I have spent some time in one,

I dont know which is better,

however, id rather push my kids to get into an elite school but cheap like uni high or melb high or macrob, I know for a fact that those schools do offer great education,

if my kids are too dumb to get in, well I guess it will be a public school for them, fortunately, they are doing quite ok at this point in time
 
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CJay said:
The 'socio-economic' factors they are talking about including the demographic and social group your children associate with, by placing them in a private school environment they are more likely to follow patterns of higher income groups, than lower income groups found in public schooling.
Click to expand...

I don't think so. I think the 'socio-economic factors' means the background of the family or class to use an old term. The report is saying that middle class kids do about the same whether their class mates are working class or middle class.

As for patterns of 'higher income groups'. The first kids I met who did drugs went to the local private school.
 
Timely

I have just now registered to attend a private school open day next month. I had always thought that I would rather spend money on things other than private school education - like holidays, extra curricular activities, tutoring if he needed it. I'm still leaning toward public school for primary school then private school for high school but keen to understand if it will even be possible to get him in in 5th class or year 7. It is a crazy amount of money though - $185K if he were to go from kinder through to year 12, not including uniforms etc.

Mind you, I'm currently paying more in child care fees than the first few years of school would be.

My motivations are that the school does extremely well academically & my LO seems to be pretty switched on in that regard, they also have good music & language programs. The other is, as others have suggested, generally mixing with a better bunch of people.

I went all the way through the public system & honestly do believe that it was not the best education option for me. My parents wanted to send me to private school for 11/12 but we'd left our run too late & I couldn't get in anywhere satisfactory.
 
Ah Esel, you might been hoping everybody on a property forum would say, 'Yes, I agree, forget school, help them get a house.'
This is a very narrow study. The link is broken, but was it the one that said kids in private schools do more homework than kids in public schools for no apparent benefit? My 14 year old will gleefully tell me all about that when she gets home - there would have been plenty of chatter about it at school today (private school kids often talk about stuff in the news).
I will say, 'Yep, I agree.' There will be a stunned silence, and I will say, 'Just kidding. Let's knock over that geography assignment we started last night.'
 
Aaron_C said:
But isn't that the entire reason? Parents are justifiably scared of sending their kid to a public school because of the chance they will hang out with some dropkick who will get them addicted to drugs etc. I know people say private schools have these things too but it is surely less prevalent. Is it worth the $20-30k pa for you though? Is a house gifted to them worth more? If they aren't educated properly they would squander whatever you give them, whether it's $10k or $1m.
Click to expand...

My partner and I value education, we've got a house full of books. Our children will have all sorts of cultural and learning opportunities. We will expose them to our values, attitudes and education. We have degrees as do all of their grandparents. What advantage will that $30k give them that engaged parents and as decent public school won't?

Where's the evidence that private school kids smoke less pot or snort less coke?
 
Esel said:
Wow Aaron. Are you winding us up?
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Aaron_C said:
Do you not agree?
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Most of us are already making that choice by hanging out on Somersoft. We are choosing to hang with the 'winners' and learn off them to better ourselves/families.

Schooling is little different in my mind. We all basically want the best for our kids to give them a leg up in life. My hope that a better education will get them a better job which means they'll be able to afford to get into property if they wish.

We are fortunate to have a low cost private school in the area which gives the kids a good assortment of cultures and economic backgrounds which I believe will give them a good rounding of education AND social skills.

I'm not too keen on the elitist schools as I see many of them fail to get on in the real world after leaving but they also have many redeeming features as well.

14yrs of schooling for my 3 will cost $210k factoring in some inflation. I don't begrudge this and I think it will be money well spent.

If we have more selective govt schools in WA like the melbourne science high I would encourage my kids to apply to those but we don't. DS15 is a complete science nut and would love a school like that.
 
There will many many replies to this topic that is for sure.

I had a bet both ways, 2 daughters, one went private, one went public, both have been pretty successful with what they have chosen. But most importantly they are happy, confident in life and are just good well rounded people. I know this is clich? but I think it does not matter what you decide private or public, what really matters is what you teach your children and the environment at home. This is far more important, than which school they attend.

Those who believe that private schools do not have any bad eggs are deluded, I know one of the best private schools in Perth where pupils were selling drugs.
 
a recent conversation I had with a parent who wasnt rich, which I hadnt considered before and could be true, could be not

she is putting her kids into a private school, not for the education, but for the people that go there,the opportunity to make contacts, network and meet the right people

obviosuly rich, famous, well connected, succesfful parents, so her kids can go down the similar path, and hang out with the right crowd, and its not about the education.

discuss
 
Esel said:
My partner and I value education, we've got a house full of books. Our children will have all sorts of cultural and learning opportunities. We will expose them to our values, attitudes and education. We have degrees as do all of their grandparents. What advantage will that $30k give them that engaged parents and as decent public school won't?
Click to expand...

You do realise that 'education' is not just limited to yourself? Kids spend 7 hours at school each day for 12 years. Most important is the company they keep, which is a function of the children (and their parents) who send their children there. Hang out with kids whose parents are obviously aspirational (to fork out 20k pa) and give a crap about their kids' education. Those are the people I want the kids to hang out with. Sure it's a generalisation but that's the only calculation you can make.

Where's the evidence that private school kids smoke less pot or snort less coke?
Click to expand...

I don't know. I went to private school and I never saw drugs. Not worth the chance. Money comes and goes but education is forever.
 
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