The $$$ of Education
Everyone wants their children to receive a good education...don't they? I'm not talking about fancy private schools either. I'm talking about a good quality PUBLIC education. Yep...that's what we want for our girls and we are LUCKY! We live in a State with EXCELLENT schools, we are even lucky enough to live in a county with some of the best in the NATION! Wow!
BUT...yep, there's a but...and it has to do with half day vs. full day school. I've posted about this before, but since deciding we want to send Piper to the local PUBLIC Chinese Immersion program we have found out several things that just don't make sense to me.
1. even though most PUBLIC schools offer full day programs, they only have half day curriculum, the second part of the day is actually considered 'after care' or glorified daycare.
2. Half Day programs are free, of course, but you have to pay for full day, but in first grade onward it's completely free.
3. Some schools are starting to offer full day curriculum, but still charge for the second part of the day because it's not yet State mandated that full day Kindergarten is covered, so if you want your child to get 100% of an education in his/her first year of school then you have to pay for it...otherwise you are SOL, or you suck it up and wait until your kid is near SEVEN YEARS OLD before they pull a full day of school!
4. The district that we are registering Piper for Chinese Immersion offers FULL day curriculum in Chinese, but because the State only covers for half day we have to pay $4000 to receive 100% of what is taught,..actually, that's what last year was, it'll probably be $4200-4400 by the time Piper enters Kindergarten in Fall 2010. It makes no sense to have her attend a half day and miss out on valuable learning, so we will have to find a way to save for school fees for 2010.
5. 2010 will also be the year that Paisley enters pre-school...which means another $1500.
6. 4200 + 1500 = $5700
7. $5700 is about what it costs for tickets to New Zealand.
Sigh.
Don't even get me started on Healthcare...if I see or hear one more person compare Obama to Hitler I'm going to lose my shit!
6 comments:
Ok I have to laugh=please keep your shit in! Public School here is bad- bad I tell ya! I was paying 4200 a year for one kid to go to a private school! My brother works for a private school-Which I love but its 6300 a year! I wish I could send them there but not while I am home. It is sad we will not be able to use the public school- I went to public school here in my town but it is so far down hill then when I went! Let's just say my brother said he would not send his dog to the public schools here! We need to get these schools back up to standards!
You know I feel your pain. We are in category #3 on your list -- $4000 for true full-day curriculum, plus $340/month for before/after care on the four days/week that I work, plus whatever a summer program costs. Then Z's preschool is $230/week, so all together, our tuition bill is over $1700/month, SIGNIFICANTLY higher than our mortgage payment. Let's talk about priorities. What a crazy, mixed up country we live in.
That stinks...really...a half day???
Our school system is not the best, but luckily we live in one of the best zones in the city...and Kindergarten is a full & free day.
It's unfathomable to me that you have to PAY for even a portion of public school.
yeah it stinks...because PUBLIC school should be free!
I agree, that is just crazy. Taya will be starting Kindergarten here in a couple weeks and it is all day everyday and is FREE. Sometimes it seems so funny that the big schools can't do that and our little dinky awesome school has great education and can afford to do it!!! Sometimes it is so nice living up here in the nothing land
I have never heard of this in Canada or the UK. I know here childcare is expensive about $80 US per day, in London it is around $100 US per day but kids go to school at age 4 full time (free). It just shows you how the division between the rich & poor in the US also effects their schooling (or education within the classroom)
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