I would like to know this as well. More than anything, I almost thing an education at any private religious institution, prior to college, would actually be more sheltered and repressive.

Almost without exception, the parents are engaged in their child's learning. The teachers aren't burdened with kids who get no parent support.

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.

Those terrible Downers Grove public schools.

How many times do you want me to answer this?? For each family and situation the answer is different. My daughter is approaching high school. Will she go to public or catholic? I'm not sure yet.

I have already read those studies previously.

-Class sizes were between 25-50% smaller depending on the year. D300 tended to have class sizes above 30. Our children generally attend class with 15-25 kids in a class.
-The private schools make the children and parents sign a code of conduct. In addition, it is strictly enforced.
-Almost without exception, the parents are engaged in their child's learning. The teachers aren't burdened with kids who get no parent support.
-The students are held to a high academic standard with no social promotion.
-They use more traditional teaching techniques like phonics and times tables vs whole word learning and silly ways to multiply numbers.
-The teachers have a deeper involvement and level of caring because the parents, students, and teachers all attend the same church and do many social activities outside the classroom. For instance, every teacher in elementary school would meet with us at our house before the school year began to learn and meet the entire family.
-There is very little bureaucracy or administration. Instead of a school with a thousand kids, you are dealing with 100 (200 for the entire high school). You know the Principal, and he/she knows you and your kids.
-The reviews from parents and kids that had attended those schools were a strong validating factor of the quality of education. Looking back, my children received and are still still receiving a very high quality education. Their standardized test scores show that. I see a vast different between my kids and their cousins. The impact is cumulative.
-The high school has a 100% placement rate into college.

Also Dennis prefers teachers paid less than Union equivalents.

If you hate Laurence, then don't listen - don't comment. When he co-hosts the B&B show, take that day off ... listen to an old podcast of a Bernstein solo show and jerk off all day.

I know what the studies say because I have researched the issue. Catholic students perform MUCH better on average. very simple. But when you parse out, income, race, etc. the difference becomes unmeasurable, at least according to those studies. I am fine with that.

The onus of proof was on you once you claimed I was doing a disservice to my children. I am already familiar with the literature which is why I suggested you cite some evidence.

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.

You could have some of the best teachers at a school but if the class is a mess it doesn't matter. Your kid won't learn much.

Yeah, that tends to happen when they're all putting down thousands of dollars a year on their kids.

My preference is for teachers who teach better than their union equivalents. And on that point, I am happy to report that my preference has been universally fulfilled.

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.

I know a lot about your school district and you are being paranoid if you think classes are a "mess" there. The worst part about at least one of the schools is they don't have enough lockers and people have to share.

Parental involvement, extra funding, and extra help are a large reason why it looks like the schools perform well.

Or, like the kids at the school, the deck is stacked in their favor to succeed. As always the biggest predictor of student success is parent income and parent education level, not because some teacher eats at your house or a code of conduct that allows them to kick all the bad kids out. Frankly your idea of "deeper involvement and level of caring" is pretty insulting.

*song plays under montage of denisdman cracking reference books, punching in figures on an adding machine, measuring children's skull sizes with calipers*



I've GOT it! I'll pay a shit ton of money for something people usually get for free!

What does that mean?

Those are good things!

Fuck like I care if it's insulting to you. I'd wear that as a badge of honor quite frankly. I've taken enough backhanded shit over the years from you and others over my opinions. I answer the damn questions and topics on these boards honestly. You put words in my mouth, like "I want lower paid teachers". I want teachers that can teach effectively for all children.

Been through the public schools. I know what those are like. I hear from my neighbors what D300 is like. My kids go to private school, so I know what those are like. I gave my opinion to the questions raised here.

It's not the school doing it. Parents have to overcome quite a bit. Extra funding comes from the parents in the form of donations or PTA, extra help is half the class being at a tutor or using some other resource. The teachers are passing kids thru and teaching to those tests. It looks good on paper but the kids aren't really being taught, educated, or able to think.

Or, like the kids at the school, the deck is stacked in their favor to succeed. As always the biggest predictor of student success is parent income and parent education level, not because some teacher eats at your house or a code of conduct that allows them to kick all the bad kids out. Frankly your idea of "deeper involvement and level of caring" is pretty insulting.

I see a pretty good correlation between entitled travel sports parents and entitled Catholic school parents. That backhanded enough for you?

That happens at all the good schools though. The top rated public schools all can thank that kind of stuff too.