Whether we spend money or save it, we all care about and use it. We ask ourselves questions every day regarding its use: “Should I really get a large drink for two more dollars?”; “Maybe I shouldn’t get this shirt, it’s too expensive” or even “I got 20 bucks today, let’s go spend it all!”
No matter who we are, the majority of us think about money every day. But one of life’s bigger questions for parents is “How much money should I spend on my kid’s education?” Or, more simply, private or public school?
I had this question put into retrospect a few weeks ago when I found out that Bellarmine’s tuition for one year is $16,000. I was shocked. For four years of high school, a parent is paying a total of $64,000, or more, if there are multiple children. That’s not including external costs either, like food or fees.
Do you have any idea of how much you could buy with that kind of money? Let me help. Two brand-new sedans. Exactly 129,293 Jack-in-the-Box tacos. 4,267 $15 shirts. 9,481 Chipotle burritos. Get the point yet? It’s a lot of money.
I decided to do some research. Here is the breakdown of all the local private school’s tuition for one year. Harker: $36,435. St. Francis: $13,950. Mitty: $14,900. Bellarmine: $16,000. Sacred Heart in Atherton: $32,560.
Taking the most expensive into account, four years of high school at Harker would cost $145,740. That money could buy a 2012 Audi R8 or a home in most of the U.S.
Going back to Bellarmine, the median in cost, how it is any different than our school?
It could be said that Bellarmine has some better sports teams and a greater variety of them such as rugby and hockey. They also have college counselors in addition to their regular counselors. It’s likely that Bellarmine, as well as other private schools, would sometimes better programs for students with more specialized needs than most public schools as well. And let’s not even mention the countless days of school they get off.
But if you have a ordinary kid who has no dire need to play on a high school hockey team, then the public school route seems like the perfectly good option to me.
Private schools can be more of a hassle than an average family needs. They can be many more miles away from home than the closest public school and getting there can take over 30 minutes. Also, most private schools are affiliated with religion, and that could be hard for a student who is non-religious or believes in a faith other than the school’s religious choice.
Using our school district as an example, I don’t see why any parent would spend thousands of dollars on an education their kid can have at a public school for free.
Our students are just as smart as the private school students. Our students work just as hard as the private school students. What’s the big difference?
Oh yeah, just $64,000.
