Why do some parents prioritize class-size at the expense of everything else?

Let me preface this by saying I’m a product of private schools. I’m an advocate of private schools when done right....

Anyways, the theory goes: “if your student has a teacher with less kids in a class, they will learn better.” That line has become a marketing tactic. Small, for-profit private schools will advertise “small class sizes at a price that will not bankrupt you.” That’s all well and good in a perfect world, but what I keep telling parents is that the money doesn’t work on that fantasy.

In my experience, any boutique school that has value will cost you big time. That’s because the cost of individualized treatment is very high. I I keep trying to explain when you sacrifice price in individualized treatment, you sacrifice quality.

It is the high price that affords schools the luxury of small class-sizes mixed with nice facilities and a strong faculty. If you take out the “high priced” aspect of it, and you don’t replace that money from somewhere (like with charter schools), the economics don’t work.

Schools that have a low-tuition and low class size, how will they afford to acquire what they need for a quality education? Teachers already make very little. No quality teacher is going to take what they can pay. Books and computers are expensive. Then there’s all the costs no one thinks about: school lunches, extra curricular activities, field trips, etc. How are they going to pay for that? The sad reality is they can’t, and they will make all sorts of promises while they cash their checks.

I guess this is more of a rant than a question. I am mad that these type of schools exist. It’s definitely a “market” which is what I am worried about. That means there is a problem with the system and/or the perception of class sizes.

Either way, it’s not really my problem. I work at a nice school. I just find this misperception about education to be baffling. A good teacher in a good school can teach 300 students better then a bad teacher can teach 3 students at a bad school.

Fenris

Submitted April 21, 2019 at 03:38AM by GhostofFenris http://bit.ly/2Ux1ths