And speaking of my kids in high school, I am truly less certain than ever what to even wish for, college-wise, for my two neurotypical youngers. Some days I think: Great Books or nothing; other days I think it doesn’t really matter at all. La la laaa….
@ablerism my kids are younger, but my hope for them is trade school + a love for self-educating via the great books.
@ablerism We have a two-year-old, but are a part of a faith community with a majority home schoolers while I work at a private university while we live two blocks from the local public elementary...In other words, we are already thoroughly in the "la la laaaa..." moment.
@hilayne Oh man, I feel that. When mine were younger, I was quite doctrinaire, alas, about public schools. As ever: with age, less certainty.
@ablerism Our son was a homeschooler with very high SAT scores. A small college that we liked was eager to get him and went out of their way to connect him with good, challenging courses. Worked out very well, nothing like the experience would have been at an elite college.
A good aspect of the PhD glut (that I'm sure you know about!) is that scholars who could have walked into a job at Princeton in the 1960s are now working at small colleges. Our son had some superb teachers.
@JohnBrady I'm kind of partial to the theory that "cancel culture" is a result of our having produced too many credentialed "elites," so they compete pretty ruthlessly with each other.
@ablerism The "with age, less certainty," description fits me. I'm in my 40s with four teenagers. Three are still at home and one is at Wheaton. They did home school in China and Malaysia for a while when young; private school after the government insisted that foreigners pay into the education system; public school in the US for three years; and private school again for the past few years. I've learned that the inputs that I expected would shape them for good or bad, were rarely the inputs that actually shaped them.
@JohnBrady @alberism Yes and Amen to the PhD glut bringing top-notch teaching faculty to schools beyond the Elite. We are also hiring more PhD folks in the classical Christian school world, too. They are drawn to reading great texts with students in smaller classes.
@frjon When I was a doctoral student, the small school environment was my preferred outcome. I was open to Secondary school too, but after a stint teaching quickly learned that pay for Classical Christian was below-subsistence.
@KyleEssary So beautifully said and illustrated! Thank you. (And I got asked to join advisory board of a new engineering program at Wheaton—in case your kiddo’s into that.)
@jonah I certainly hear you. I know in the DFW area, with so many similar options (9+ Classical Christian Schools in Dallas County right now), most of us have started to benchmark against area public or charter schools. It is also the case, at least in Dallas, that Classical Christian schools cost anywhere from 25%-50% of the annual tuition of similar private institutions of other (or no) affiliation. That is a real difference in annual revenue.
Our approach to help balance revenue needs (essential if you are going to pay teachers competitive wages) and maintain an environment where families and students are known by teachers and administrators is to be a medium-sized school with small classrooms. We are ~450 students PreK-12 now, and growing to a cap of ~700, but our classrooms are 14 students or smaller and will remain that way as we expand.
But we are also in our 25th year, and just now getting to a more competitive benchmark for starting teacher pay. I feel for those schools who are still working towards being established, while trying to keep tuition low, while trying to attract and keep excellent faculty.
@frjon This is encouraging to read a someone who taught in the DFW at a Christian private school. Hands-down the best way to invest in education is striking that balance in your approach: realistic revenue efforts and a place where students/faculty are known.
Ultimately, @ablerism, that "being and becoming known" is what I want for my students and co-workers (and my child when the time comes for school), and I sense we will have to be both flexible and committed, understanding that uncertainty is just part of that tension. 🤷🏼♂️
@frjon I'm on the board of a very small, relatively new (12 years) classical school that's on the brink of insolvency due to low enrollment. I wonder from this if we raised pay too rapidly when we were hopeful of breakthrough. No need to reply.
@ReaderJohn Certainly could be the case. Things are so different market-to-market, to be sure. As one of nine classical Christian schools in Dallas County, we do have a real need to compete for top teachers. There are other key concerns for those schools who might be the only classical school in their town or region. Regardless of where this particular school lands, keep fighting the good fight!