Kids These Days:

I have often wondered what is it about private schools that make otherwise intelligent people spend many thousands of dollars for something they can get for “free” because it is included in the taxes they pay.

Is there really that much of a difference? Apparently, the parents or guardians of more than 6 million students think so. That’s the number of kids who attended private schools in grades pre-kindergarten through 12, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

And for those of you who think private schools are only for the children of the wealthy, here’s a surprise: Of the 8 million youngsters in grades K-12 in 2005 who come from families with annual incomes of $100,000 or more, 80% (6.4 million) attend public schools and 20% (1.6 million) attend private schools, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, School Enrollment—Social and Economic Characteristics of Students: October 2005.

Viewed another way, that means that just three years ago, 80% of the kids who were attending private schools came from families with household incomes of less than $100,000. Odd, considering the fact that these are the families who are most likely to want to take advantage of that free education.

So what is it about private schools that causes these regular folks to stretch their incomes so their kids can have this education?

Susan Bothwell is the director of admissions for Carden Hall School in Newport Beach. Carden Hall educates children from kindergarten through eighth grade. I asked Bothwell why a parent in Newport Beach, which has excellent public elementary and middle schools, would pay several thousand dollars on top of their taxes for a Carden education.

“We have very small class sizes and we have subjects which may not be available in public schools,” Bothwell said. “We also have physical education every day as well as music every day at all grade levels. We have art once or twice a week at all grade levels and French every day at all grade levels.”

After hearing the list, I told Bothwell it sounded as though the school had full programs in most of the programs on which the public schools had cut back over the years.

“These are the things that parents pay extra for. So if a parent wants a full music program or a foreign language for their child, it’s all part of our curriculum. It’s a very sequential program and the subjects are inter-related whenever possible.”