Public or Private

[Big Rig]

I am just wondering after reading a recent post...

I would like to know who taught you and how far you went in advancing your education.

[Westernbiker]

Public schools all my life. After H.S. joined the Navy.  After the military went to college for 2 1/2 years then left to get married. May not have been the best idea but I did get two great daughters out of it. LOL!

[RainMaker]

I was taught in the public schools but sent both my sons to private schools.  A lot had changed in 30 years in the public schools.  Driving old cars versus buying something new every couple of years paid for it.  Worth every penny.

[Jeff K]

I was taught in the public schools but sent both my sons to private schools.  A lot had changed in 30 years in the public schools.  Driving old cars versus buying something new every couple of years paid for it.  Worth every penny.

[Serk]

I'm torn... While I technically attended public schools and received a high school diploma from same, I consider most of my education to have come from informal home schooling or my own curious self study...

[fudgie]

I was in public schools till I graduated. 2 yrs of trade for construction then veered off coarse to the fire science. Then quit and started EMS. Shoulda staid cause there aint no money in saving lives. 

If I had kids they will go to public schools. Aint spending the money for private school and disagree with home schooling.

[doubletee]

Public schools, abeit in a very small town and many, many years ago. (I firmly believe things are vastly different in schools today versus when I attended.) My parents also contributed mightily to ensuring I applied myself in school.

I have an undergraduate degree (BS) from a public university. (Go Buckeyes!)  

[Brad]

Graduated from the public school system and obtained a degree from a private university which I paid for by working during school and two full time jobs during the summers.  That being said I learned from my parents and they made sure that I did the work to be successful in public school.  At the time I was in public school we had to behave and think of the consequences before acting because they still practiced corporal punishment back then (but you did get to choose which paddle you wanted them to use).  At that time they could toss you out after a progression of disciplinary actions so the major screw ups were not in school.  If you got a paddling in school and your parents found out about it you got another one when you got home.  My parents did not believe in the legal concept of "double jeopardy".  All four of my children have gone to public school, youngest still in high school, older two graduated from private university, one still in college.

[RoadKill]

Myself and my 2 brothers went to public school. They didnt teach JACK !Mom taught me and my older brother to read and we had to teach our younger brother phonics when he was in 3RD grade because the school refused to do it and Mom had gone back to work full time teaching. The school she worked for said we could memorize letter groupings like every one else but not to worry about it because it would not affect us moving up through the grades regardless. That was LESS than 30 yrs ago and it's WAY worse now!

[doubletee]

Graduated from the public school system and obtained a degree from a private university which I paid for by working during school and two full time jobs during the summers.  That being said I learned from my parents and they made sure that I did the work to be successful in public school.  At the time I was in public school we had to behave and think of the consequences before acting because they still practiced corporal punishment back then (but you did get to choose which paddle you wanted them to use).  At that time they could toss you out after a progression of disciplinary actions so the major screw ups were not in school.  If you got a paddling in school and your parents found out about it you got another one when you got home.  My parents did not believe in the legal concept of "double jeopardy".  All four of my children have gone to public school, youngest still in high school, older two graduated from private university, one still in college.

Sounds exactly like my upbringing and schooling, especially the part about behaving and knowing there would be consequences if one didn't!    

[Stanley Steamer]

I was the first one in my immediate Family of 6 to graduate from HS......my Brother and two Sisters eventually took and passed the GED.....My folks divorced when I was near the end of the 11th grade....I stayed with my favorite Aunt/Uncle my senior yr of HS and worked a part time job at the Winn Dixie and Piggly Wiggly to pay for my car, insurance, gas, maint. and etc.....

I also went to the Univ. of Georgia.....In HS, I had graduated as an Honor student with a 4.0 and had the most scholarships of anyone else in my class....somewhere around $12,000 back in 1988.....that paid for about two years of college....was eligible for a Pell Grant for around $6,000....and had to borrow around $6,000 in student loans.....I worked part time jobs all the time I was in college, never went on any Spring breaks, and worked full time in the summers to pay my way.....my Mother was able to give me $300 for books one quarter, but that was it and I appreciated it for sure.....I figure it cost me around $30,000-35,000 to get my BSA degree in Ornamental Horticulture....

In my Family, if you wanted something, you had to work for it yourself.....no handouts.....I was ok with that and decided I'd continue my education for ME....no one else.....I think it meant more to me to have to work for it and I wouldn't have it any other way.....

We decided we didn't want kids, and I'll never have to find out if I'd have made them pay their own way.....they passed the "Hope" scholarship(paid for with proceeds from the Lottery) here in Georgia the year after I graduated, and it pays for most of the expenses of college tuition as long as the student maintains a "B" avg. while going to college.....now that the the Lottery proceeds are down, kids and parents are complaining about the fact that the State will have to reduce those benefits......WTF???.....what ever happened to taking responsibility for your own education??.....it can't be like other States and the old days where the STUDENT had to figure it all out own their own?????.....

Oh well......I'm glad I got my education and have gotten every certification you can get in my field and have worked my @ss off for everything I've ever gotten and it still wasn't enough to overcome workplace politics where I work.....I'm more than a little jaded on that American Dream of hard work + education= success.......

[valkmc]

Public school, little town learned the r's from them. Got my education in life on the farm. Dad tought me how to work and how to figure things out. To me that is what children today are missing. Got a 4 year degree after working for ten years at the age of 30. Paid for evey cent of it myself, another thing dad taught me.

I now teach at a large public school,(2000 students) worked after college for 15 years before I started teaching and what I see today from kids who come through my class is they do not have parents like I did. Many of these kids have no respect or work ethic at all. If they cannot get a reward right now there is no effort. I work with some sorry teachers for sure but the state of public education cannot be blamed on them alone. I have 3 sons who went through public ed, one got a 2 year degree and has had a stable job for 7 years, the 2nd is currently close to his engineering degree and the third is in a program going to college and finishing high school at the same time. They knew if they did not apply themselves there would be trouble. Many parents today blame teachers rather than kids or themself (not speaking of any parents here just stating what I see here in Fl.)

[Jess from VA]

Public schools and universities (20 years).  Then numerous USAF schools-courses.

No more...... please.

[ptgb]

Parochial School grades 1-3 as we lived in the "hood" at the time and parents felt better schooling was there.

Public School in a small town grades 4-12. Average student, average grades. Have worked from about 15 years old.

Started and stopped university twice in my early 20s - liked the beer more than the classes. Always had good, relatively high paying jobs (for my age) at that time, so higher education wasn't a priority.

Went to Peace Officers Academy at 23 and worked in the policing field ever since (dispatch, patrol, investigations).

At about 31 years old, got the itch to get my degree. I told my mother that I was going back to school. She told me... "your father (he passed when I was 12) and I always said the greatest thing we could ever give our children was an education"... imagine my gratitude when she told me that she would pay for my schooling! Applied myself this time and got my bachelors degree (Criminal Justice) at 36.

About 6 months of being home in the evenings with my wife... she said she would choke me if I didn't get out of her hair a few nights a week. I went back (on my dime this time) to get my masters. Just have to write a graduate paper over the next few months and will have that masters degree in Criminal Justice - Police Management. I am possibly considering law school... possibly... maybe...

I am truly proud of my wife (JoJo) though. She comes from a family of 7 girls... parents told them from a young age that girls don't go to college and to become secretaries or housewives (marry up I guess). Well, her second time around at marriage... she married me; definitely married down this time. She decided that she wasn't content in the secretarial field and went to IT training and then to college (one class at a time)... 10 years later, she has her bachelors and has progressed from secretarial work with the State Attorney General to a highly technical computer crimes position. Going to start teaching at the university level while also working on her masters this fall. She now pretty much supports me 

[ptgb]

Oh well......I'm glad I got my education and have gotten every certification you can get in my field and have worked my @ss off for everything I've ever gotten and it still wasn't enough to overcome workplace politics where I work.....I'm more than a little jaded on that American Dream of hard work + education= success.......

Yes, the "not what you know... the who you know" is alive and well! It's a shame. At the local level (where I also reside), the politics is especially frustrating. At the State level and higher, you pretty much don't personally know the ones driving the decisions that affect you or the real reason why things are happening. At the local level... you break bread with the same ones who end up breaking your resolve.

[R J]

Started school in a one room school house.   Teacher lived just up the road from us so if I acted up in class and got my butt whomped by her, when I got home it really got whomped again.  Decided 2 butt whompins for something were not worth it.   Went through 4th grade there, then went to town school, no school bus service in the farm area we lived in so I walked to school.

Graduated from HS in June 49.   Went in the USMC shortly there after.   Got married while in the service.  Just before I got my discharge, the CHP came around to the bases looking for recruits.   They waived the residency requirement on the application. After my USMC stint, I got hired by the CHP.  Went through the academy and went on patrol, then got a chance for motor assignment and riding school.

Bounced around several area assignments and one day my superior told me if I wanted any more rank, I’d have to get a degree.   So, started to school and was trying to raise a family also.  20 years later I got my degree, and got the promotion, and retired 9 years later.

My kids all got public schooling and went to college except for one.  He started college and decided it was more fun to party.  He flunked out and went into business for himself.  None of my kids ended up with student loans.   We took out savings bonds from the time they were ZERO in age and that paid all the bills for their schooling while maturing.   Still had enough in the reserve from these bonds that 2 of the grandkids got higher education out of them.

[Bama Red]

Taught myself to read (with comic books!) before I hit the first grade. All public schools, then a state university for my B.S. in Criminal Justice (thanks, G.I. Bill). Worked a few years, and back to another state university for my MBA (never finished it - too many foreign instructors and I couldn't understand half of what they said. Quit in frustration. I do have an ad hoc Doctorate in Cryptographic Theory, compliments of the Navy (yes - ours! ), just ain't allowed to use it anywhere but back in the Navy!

[Chrisj CMA]

Unfortunately "attending" public school and being taught anything (lately) are two entirely different things.  I went to public schools, but most of what I know, or at least the information I use came from my Father, family and personal experiences.  Its sad, but the only thing I learned in school that was valuable was my introduction to woodworking.....Its now my career and I still love it

[Jack]

I went to a public school my great grandfather helped build.  I waited 20 years to go to UALR.  I waited another 15 years to go to Pulaski Tech.  I may not be thru.

[Big IV]

Public K-12 followed by the State Community College system. That was followed by the Catholic College which was followed by the Baptist College. I finished a degree at each. Those were followed by a few random classes as needed from a variety of state schools (in two different states). Those were non-degree seeking but fun. One of the state schools was the oldest state college in the country and I stayed in the oldest dorm in the country. Now I am at a state school in a different state working on my terminal degree. Although, I do plan on going to get a certificate from a mountain school once the terminal degree is finished just for fun.

So, mostly, public and state schools.

I also joined my wife at the community college for the rider's education course when she was learning to ride. That was motorcycle related college.

[valkmc]

It is hard to be on the inside and watch public education being attacked from both sides, common sense has flown out the window just as it has in many facets of life today. Public education much like government has grown and been expected to take on more and more as time has marched on. Then it is blamed because it cannot do the job. In the 50's, 60's, &  70's public education was about academics and parents taught their children about respect, work ethic, priorities, sex, etc. As someone who walks through the doors everyday I can tell you that is no longer the case. In my classroom students, good kids for the most part, are not prepared at all to take care of themselves at the age of 17 & 18. Many have one parent, many have no responsible parent. The same people who expect government to solve their healthcare problems, employment problems, etc., expect public education to raise their children. The problem with this is teachers spend so much time with things like fights, students who have been up all night working or playing video games, teaching students how to fill out job applications, how to become a good employee, attendance issues, etc., the list goes on forever we cannot teach what schools were meant to teach, reading, writing, math. Add to that that schools no longer fail students (huge mistake) which is not a teachers choice, and you end up with 25% of students who walk out of school totally unprepared for life. I have failed children many times in the past just to have the higher up pass the child along when mom or dad gets pissed.

Sorry about the rants on education but I am passionate about by profession and work like a dog to help kids become productive citizens (tax payers . It is time the public started raising their own children and let good teachers teach them how to read and write.

[RainMaker]

It is hard to be on the inside and watch public education being attacked from both sides, common sense has flown out the window just as it has in many facets of life today. Public education much like government has grown and been expected to take on more and more as time has marched on. Then it is blamed because it cannot do the job. In the 50's, 60's, &  70's public education was about academics and parents taught their children about respect, work ethic, priorities, sex, etc. As someone who walks through the doors everyday I can tell you that is no longer the case. In my classroom students, good kids for the most part, are not prepared at all to take care of themselves at the age of 17 & 18. Many have one parent, many have no responsible parent. The same people who expect government to solve their healthcare problems, employment problems, etc., expect public education to raise their children. The problem with this is teachers spend so much time with things like fights, students who have been up all night working or playing video games, teaching students how to fill out job applications, how to become a good employee, attendance issues, etc., the list goes on forever we cannot teach what schools were meant to teach, reading, writing, math. Add to that that schools no longer fail students (huge mistake) which is not a teachers choice, and you end up with 25% of students who walk out of school totally unprepared for life. I have failed children many times in the past just to have the higher up pass the child along when mom or dad gets pissed.

Sorry about the rants on education but I am passionate about by profession and work like a dog to help kids become productive citizens (tax payers . It is time the public started raising their own children and let good teachers teach them how to read and write.

I think there are a lot of teachers with your passion and desire to do a great job of educating the kids in public schools, but as you point out, the external factors make it very difficult to do so.  You can't kick out the kids who have no desire to learn and would rather be disruptive. Now you can't fail them, as you also pointed out.  No true repercussion for the kids make it an impossible situation for the teacher.  The private schools - no such problems.  The parents seem to care more because they are spending serious bucks to get their kids educated.  Classes are smaller.  Disruptive kids - tossed out and back to the public schools and the cycle continues.

I believe that with most things in our society, the issue is lack of responsibility for one's own actions.  As long as we make excuses for people's poor behavior instead of people taking responsibility for their own actions and the results of those actions, the decline will continue.  IMHO.

Thank you for your passion.  It gives me hope.

RainMaker

[Rowdy]

Parochial School grades 1-12
It prepared me for Marine Corp Boot Camp    I think those Nuns and DI's went to the same school except for maybe the language they used in the Marine Corp 
Did go to college after the Marine Corps and eventually picked up an MBA over the years.

I sent the boy to public school -  what a mistake - he's 21 and no ambition 

[hubcapsc]

I think I went to the same public school that Beaver Cleaver and all those 1950s/1960s sitcom people went to... I
could walk to elementary school, junior high school and high school. I remember taking civics and geometry and
algebra and I remember ignoring Beowulf  ... I remember working on horrible book-ends in
shop class and using  an industrial planer and the shop teacher was just like Bill Cosby. I remember when my
5th grade teacher confiscated my Batman cards, and I had to come back after school with my mother to get
them back. I remember we occasionally made the 6th grade teacher cry because, well, she was new and we
were children, but we all liked her and she knew it. I was a slacker when I graduated, but I could read and do algebra
and geometry and knew about Cliff's Notes  and could get accepted to Clemson...

I guess it is a different world now...

-Mike

[alph]

Wow, I match up with a few of you out there.

Started off in a public school, moved to a small town in Wisconsin were I went to a private school (worthless teachers and worst experience in my life), then public high school were I was told by a couple of teachers that I would never amount to anything, back to private college to study electrical engineering and to fulfill a prophecy my father predicted as I was about to drive off that day, he said “you’ll never graduate.” And he was right!!  

By the way, for those “well educated high school teachers” that can predict the future, I never got a girl knocked up (other then my wife), never had problems with the law (other then three speeding tickets my entire life) never had anything repossessed, never been in jail, and NEVER DONE DRUGS.  So, what does that tell you about some teachers?  For those of you that want to know, I argued with my father for years because of what he said, and I have never forgiven him for it.   He based his beliefs of college by a movie that had come out a few years before, called “animal house”…..

If you are a teacher, be careful what you say to a child.  Some day, you might have to pay for their rehabilitation…..

[Master Blaster]

Public, back when teachers and principal could whip your ass, before teachers unions, new math, before standards were lowered and you could fail or be held back.  Like RJ, one year I went to a one room school with one teacher for 1-12.  Some grades didnt have anyone, think about 18 kids total, and we did good.  Back then get in trouble at school and you were really in trouble at home. 

[Hoser]

Public schools 1-12, school of hard knocks later, Avionics, in the Navy.  Fire science when I entered the fire service.  Retired at 58, Entered Police Dept when I was 58, retired at 64.  Main occupation was motorcyclist the whole time, I've done all right. I'm satisfied with my life.  Hoser 

[valkmc]

Public schools 1-12, school of hard knocks later, Avionics, in the Navy.  Fire science when I entered the fire service.  Retired at 58, Entered Police Dept when I was 58, retired at 64.  Main occupation was motorcyclist the whole time, I've done all right. I'm satisfied with my life.  Hoser 

I am satisfied with my life, great feeling isn't it. I am 52 and it took me along time but I am also satisfied. Three kids all turned out great, made some money and have spent the last few years helping others....not to mention I moved to a warm climate and get to ride most of the year.

[B]

Public schools thru HS.   BA from SAU, MS from CMU ... born with my BS & getting my phd from the "school of hardknocks". 

[GreenLantern57]

Not sure how to answer really! 

Catholic grade school, really gave me a leg up on ones that went to public.

7th-12th, public school. Small town less than 24k.

2 yr technical college with associates degree.

So what will the real option be?