Education is only part of the experience of high school. I have great high school memories because I had a great group of friends. My sister had a very unhappy high school experience because she didn't fit in. Same school, 1 year apart. This may already have been voiced above, but a few additional things to consider, which I have seen happen to other people, are the lifestyle issues and the donation issues. Specifically, will your child feel left out if they cannot afford to do the things their classmates do? I can remember being the only one of my friends in (public) high school who didn't get to go to Europe senior year (in my case it was my mother worrying rather than money, either way, I was left out). I've seen the activities and things friends' kids want. Will your child feel left out if they can't go skiing in the Alps over Christmas break? Will there be an issue if he has a beater car rather than a BMW? Another issue which I was a little surprised by was the "donation" issue. A good friend of mine has her only child in a $30k per year high school. They can easily afford it. However, the school also expects a sizable donation every year, and it keeps going up (he is in his third year). Think thousands - extra. They also do expensive things to raise money for the school, like auctions. Regarding treating kids "the same". It is very difficult. My parents didn't pay (or even help pay) for my law school because my mother didn't think they should do something for me that they were not going to do for my sister. But they weren't going to do the same for her because she wasn't going to go - she dropped out of college. I didn't argue with them about it at the time. In fact, it wasn't until after I graduated that my father even knew they didn't help. He assumed they had. My mother handled the money. So now all the money they saved my father is spending on his chi-chi girlfriend (my mother passed away). I have to admit, it irks me now. But it wouldn't have bothered me if my parents had used the money together. My in laws took the "equal" thing to a ridiculous extreme. DH was the "perfect" child. He was the oldest, and was a great student, athlete, and was very handsome (voted "best body" in high school, which we have a good giggle over). His parents wouldn't even give him praise unless they could give the same praise to his 2 younger (and less stellar) siblings. One story he mentions is when he came home with all As in all AP classes. His mother said something like, "well, Sally and Billy tried very hard to". My MIL was an early example of the dangers of praising trying as much as succeeding. His siblings learned they would get as much credit for failing as DH would get for succeeding. No one lived up to their potential as a result. I guess my point is this, you can't treat kids equally, and you can't be perfectly fair. Every kid is different.

One of the things that we would love to see changed, would be that ALL children take the SAME standardized tests. As a parent, it makes it very difficult to compare between a public and private school because the students do not take the same test. So you cannot compare whether the students in the private school are actually scoring higher, and getting a better education. IMO, there are some private schools handing out A's because they want the parents happy so that the tuition/donations they are counting on, keep coming in. The parents end up with more power than they should have, because they threaten to pull their kids out, and the school does not want to lose the tuition/donations, so in some cases they "cater" too much to these parents. Many of the public schools have their classroom sizes way down, so you may be surprised at the number of students in a class. Also, public or private, much depends on how good the teacher is. Both private schools and public schools have good and bad teachers. We panicked with our first born and put her in a very elite private school, foolishly worried about the influence of children from the guests on the Jerry Springer show.LOL We then started hearing so many great things about a certain public school, that we decided two years later to just try it for one year. We were so worried that if we gave up our "spot" at the private school, that we would not be able to get her back in. But we took the chance. We never regretted the change, and the public school has been every bit as good as the private school (with the exception of one teacher two years ago, but the rest have been truly excellent teachers). Granted that this is a public school with alot of parental involvement, in a better neighborhood. Our state grades the schools in how well they are doing, and this school was rated an A. If you have really good public schools in your area, take a look at them. Talk to other parents. What are they happy with? What would they change? But find out how their students/school as a whole scored on the standardized tests.

My children attend a very small private school. The upside is I know all the teachers, all the students in their classes and they can't get away with anything (good or bad) without me knowing. The school they attend is not advertised as a religious school. However, they do have morning devotionals, religious based Christmas program if they choose, a bible class for those who choose it. I am not an overly religious person, but I like knowing my kids are exposed on a daily basis. Because it does not pay as well as public school, the majority of the teachers are parents of the children who attend. I find this is good because they really care about the quality of the education. Their kids are my kids friends and they do not hesitate to call if they are concerned about my children. Also, our school requires a certain percentage to be certified. I think we have 3 teachers out of 30+ that are not certified. These three are the best teachers my children have had. They all have college educations, but did not gravitate to the field till they were older. These are people who did not like their chosen fields, but found they had a knack with kids. Much better then getting a teacher with a masters who learns after years of being educated for the job that they hate kids!!!! The bad side is that tuitions increase. Our school's finances are public knowledge for those who ask for it. It may be a good idea to find out how much the tuition has increased each year for the past five years.

I am definitely in favour of school uniforms for the following reasons: 1) It creates a sense of belonging for the school pupils 2) The poor children will blend in with the rich children, instead of standing out and being mercilessly teased and bullied. Those who has expressed such concern about the child's individuality are obviously talking from the view point of those who can afford it. The poster who thought it was great that a child had the freedom to choose to wear black all year probably doesn't know what it is like for the poor child who might only have one outfit to wear all year. That child may be one of those mercilessly bullied. In my home country, public (government) have uniforms and the private schools might not have uniforms. This makes far more sense than the North American approach of public schools not having uniforms but private schools having uniforms. Public schools are more likely to have a greater mix of children from different socio-economic groups, than private schools. We were normally able to buy second-hand uniforms, either through the school or by checking in the local newspaper. The newspaper/s would have a special section especially for uniforms where people could list which school's uniforms they had available. We were also not allowed to plaster our faces with make up, nor wear jewelery. I don't agree with young girls plastering their faces with make up, just to go to school. Those who are so concerned about expressing their individuality have plenty of opportunity to do so in their after school clothes. Typically the friends children hang out with after school will be of a similar socio-economic group. So the rich girls can hang out at the malls or where ever, free to express their individuality there. The poorer children that hang out together will understand that their friends can't afford the latest fashions etc.