I read a couple of articles over the past few days that, combined, provide a good pictures of the thinking, priorities and sacrifices that families are grappling with in their ‘public or private’ school decisions. With a generally more conservative outlook about future earnings and home equity gone as a banking option families are struggling mightily to reach the best decisions about schools.

Two articles provide insight into the two sides of the education coin:

The New York Times article, “The Sudden Charm of Public School,” looks at family thinking and finances that underlie a migration into the public school system by families who previously assumed that private school would be their choice. The exact numbers are unspecific and anecdotal, but the number of families thinking through this process is clear.

In the current climate can we, and, should we send our kids to private school?

From the NYT article:

“There is no way of knowing just how many would-be or current private school parents are turning to the public schools. But there is no question that the city’s public kindergartens are experiencing a groundswell of interest…

The growing undertow from private to public emphasizes just how desperate some families have become.

Moving your kid out of private school is usually one of the last things to go,” said Kathy M. Braddock, a partner at Charles Rutenberg Realty. “You give up vacations and cars and take away summer camp first.

But I hear people evaluating everything now. I know lawyers who have been laid off, Wall Street people, the Madoff victims. These are people who never thought they would be in a financial situation where they would have to start making certain choices.

…saying you’re interested in sending your kids to public schools used to be a taboo among a certain group of people….Now it’s actually kind of cool and in vogue.”

The NYC Private Schools Blog paints the opposing view. In a post titled, “Private School Not a Luxury to Most,” the author paints a picture of the willingness of parents to prioritize and sacrifice for private education.

Much of the article comes from a Wisconsin Rapids Tribune article looking at one mom’s desire and willingness to sacrifice so that she can afford private school tuition and efforts of the area catholic schools to create aid and financing options. 

As Beckie Rogers told the Wisconsin Rapids Tribune:

“It’s pretty much a given tuition rates go up every year…But as a parent, I prioritize and give up other things. This is a necessity for my family.”

The reality of the public versus private equation in the current admission cycle lies somewhere in the middle. With no sound data, we don’t know how many families will choose their public or private education options. We know for sure that economic stress has increased the value and importance of the public side of the equation. We know, with certainty, that uncertainty has private school admission officers working to demonstrate the value of the product and looking harder at their cost structures and aid and financing options than they have in quite some time.