Public School? Private School?

Spencer is going to Kindergarten in Fall 2011. I have started checking out information and attending school tours since last month. My friends Ken and Viola filled me with a lot of information and updates about the school system here. Their kids are already in the Pre-K and the 2nd Grade. They have gone through the whole process of enrollment and know a lot of weird things and insider stories.

Viola had enrolled her daughter in 7 private schools and 7 public schools, she had toured close to 20 schools, worked through different assessment processes. Ken had just finished his public school enrollment for his son. He is the one who keeps track of the school system changes and gives me a lot of reference. Originally, he supported public school system and had great confidence of sending his son to public school. However, with the recent news on budget cuts, new enrollment system, teacher layoff, etc., he is now intending to send his son to private school.

To me, I am 50/50. If Spencer can be assigned to a good public school, ideally in the immersion program, I will definitely let him study in public school. It saves us money and good public school can be more beneficial than a so-and-so average private school. Regarding school politics or parent struggle, I believe that it would be the same in either public or private school. However, with the recent updates on how the student assignment system would be changed and the fact that the USD will cut more funding and teachers, I am not impressed to take a risk, especially that I know traditional academic school may not be suitable for Spencer. he needs a lot of attention and persuasion to thrive. I have seen his improvement and learning in pre-school recently and it further reinforce my belief on what kind of school would be suitable.

In my home country, there are limited numbers of public schools and a lot of government funded schools. The system there was said to be suck but it is still much more liberal and transparent as compared to here. It is really disappointing to see politics comes first in the expense of children's benefits. What those officials are thinking? What kind of schools are they going to send their kids to? If they are not willing to send their kids to the public schools that they have designed, then why the other parents should believe that it is the best system?