I grew up in Riverton, Live in Palmyra now. I have done the Public school route and the Private school route. Both have their pros and cons. I honestly believe it is not the school, but the child that makes the difference. What your child puts into their education is what they will get out of it.

Good Luck convincing your crowd. You have an uphill battle.

Thanks for taking on this giant issue with a fairly balanced approach.

You see a lot of well-meaning middle-class parents starting “support our local public education choices” initiatives when their kids are small. Then their kids actually become school-age and it’s tough to stay and work vs. pay for something ‘better,’ immediately.

I went to a private school from 7th grade on, and did not have a good experience. It was the place screwed up families sent their kids. We had a professional drug counselor on staff (!).

As a parent living in the rich educational ecosystem that is Philadelphia, I’ve reconsidered my position. My kids attend an alternative independent school – a decidedly low-key school without massive resources. The tuition is modest compared to the Friends Schools and ‘elite’ schools you reference.

Riverton and Palmyra might be limited in their independent choices, but it would be wrong to equate “private” with richy-rich cars OR religious zealots, which you appear to do here. There are many other versions/options, at least in the Philadelphia area. Some of my school’s parents drive from NJ every day.

As a rough comparison, it takes Riverton K8 $5.4m per year to educate 2434 students (from http://www.riverton.k12.nj.us/BUDGET/USERFR.HTM).

My kids go to a Waldorf School which is experiencing some growing pains – they need more people in leadership/communication positions and don’t have great gym facilities. There are no computers (this is a philosophical thing, not a budget thing) and the teachers’ salaries are very modest – teachers are called to Waldorf and teach with an amazing passion.

The school has a touch under 200 kids, many in early childhood programs. So it isn’t apples to apples. There are no services for special needs. There are very well developed arts, music, and language programs though.

The Waldorf School of Philadephia’s budget for 2011-2012 was a bit over $1m. Less than $1.1m.

I’d love it if every teacher there made 50% more. They’d still be under $2m. Throw in the $325k Riverton spends on Special Education. Say $2.5m

So it’s half the cost of a NJ public school.

At $5.4m for 244 kids you’re over $22k in tuition per child – granted almost $1m comes from sources other than local taxes.

From where I sit, paying Philadelphia wage and school tax, Riverton IS one of those elite private schools – at least judging by the total spend per student.