re: Baton Rouge private schools vs. public schools

As a public school graduate who went to catholic school in before high school I can say I learned more while at catholic school. When I went to LSU I was not prepared.

I was given the option to apply for Catholic high bt at the time (8th grade) I begged my parents to send me to Plaquemine High. At this point in my life I look back and think of the mistake I made.

I did enough to get by, I was not pushed to learn. The environment around me made it easy to just do enough to get by.

My wife is a public school teacher. She teaches in Iberville and it is a joke. People are sending their kids to the local private school that doesnt provide a better education at all, but it has a better environment. It kind of makes you sick to think you are paying taxes for a school system that sucks. Either way, I would have to think that if you are going to send your kid to a private school send them to the best their is. Even if they do not make it through college they will still learn something.

No matter what there will be people who go against the grain. Some kids will have the best education and still fail some kids will drop out and make more money than you ever imagined but if you want the best overall for your kids give them the opportunity to have a good education. Some times certain things are out of our hands, you can only do so much and then let the rest work itself out.

quote:

---

I'm not defending the bigger classes. I'm saying you are freakin clueless on the numbers you are throwing out. Your numbers are meaningless until you know the true teacher to student ratio for all sessions. You completely ignored the overhead.

---

Dude I went to public schools all my life and I NEVER had a class with 32 kids in it. My HS was 1400+ kids and I had a graduating class of 440. if you are too stubborn to realize that you are paying private school tuition for your kid to go to class with a student:teacher ratio that is bad even for PUBLIC schools then we both need to move on because you are beyond reasoning

quote:

---

You are ok trying to arbitrarily compare those numbers and claim BR is inefficient, yet somehow it is flawed to compare standardized test scores? Are the tests biased against Lafayette kids somehow? I'm becoming increasingly more happy that my kids aren't under the Lafayette Diocese School Board.

---

no I am not claiming they are inefficient, I am inclined to believe that their priorities are a bit off and they have made sacrifices that as a parent paying tuition i would not be comfortable with. In this case MORE is not better, it is worse for everyone involved.

Comparing test scores of BTR Catholic Schools and Lafayette catholic Schools will tell us what? that the averages are better/worse/similar? but what does that have to do with you getting VALUE for YOUR money?

you keep trying to put "words in my mouth" and extrapolate out things that I have not said. I said if I was paying tuition and my kid was crammed in a classroom with 31 other kids, i would be pissed. That is not a good situation, that is not what I want for my kid and that is not what i am paying good money for. Allowing 32:1 is the BTR Diocese quick fix answer to a BIG problem: Too few spots for too many applicants.

Affecting the learning environment of everyone else to allow a few more in to the school doesnt address the problem, it just postpones it for a little while. where do they draw the line? I bet if you go back it wasnt that long ago that BTR Diocese was 25:1 or 26:1. Now it is 32:1 in some schools with demand going up every year. when do they stop expanding classes and take on debt to expand facilities? The "cheapness" of the church is not specific to BTR, Lafayette diocese just hasnt gotten to the point where they have moved their line of acceptable numbers like BTR has.

That doesnt mean that it won't happen and Lafayette will never have Catholic Schools with 32:1, just that is hasn't happened yet

I would say the same thing if my parents spent that kind of money for me to go to school.

quote:

---

I went to Episcopal and find that my classmates and I were WAY more prepared for college than my friends from other schools in BR, including other private schools.

---

A friend of mine and his brother went to Episcopal then transfered to public school. The brother was like a Jr he was in 8th grade. They were on a completely different level.

My friend actually dropped out of high school, got his GED, screw off, got into LSU, and is now in LSU's law school. If he didn't have the education he received from Episcopal he probably would not been able to recover screwing up a few years of his life.

quote:

---

I wouldn't call that an endorsement for LSU/LSU law school.

---

SFP is.

I am kind of laughing at how you said most of the dick things in this thread but the canned nut dude is pissed at me because I think he is getting screwed paying tuition for his kid to sit in a class of 32

quote:

---

Comparing test scores of BTR Catholic Schools and Lafayette catholic Schools will tell us what? that the averages are better/worse/similar? but what does that have to do with you getting VALUE for YOUR money?

---

You're right, what does how they do on tests have to do with the value I'm getting for my money. What?

And, yet again, you throw out bogus numbers. Baton Rouge has been at or around 30 per class for A LONG time. My mother in law taught at MBS for 25 years. I know this, we've discussed this. These schools are making it work at that number, and have been for years. So I'm ok with it. Certainly better than public schools.

quote:

---

Charles, I still rmember like yesterday, my teachers, from OLOM and CHS..Sister Philomena, Sister Ruth, Brother Gordian, Sister Katie,etc..

---

What about Sister Martina and Guadaloupe...
I'm an OLOM/CHS grad too, and I think I will send my kids to Catholic schools. I would prefer a Jesuit school for boys because I think the Jesuit brothers provide an excellent education, but I will cross that bridge when the time comes. If there is a strong public school, we will consider it nonetheless.

quote:

---

You're right, what does how they do on tests have to do with the value I'm getting for my money. What?

---

averages, who gives a crap about test score averages? what about YOUR kid? what about your money? reading comprehension is not your strong suit is it? You yourself said that you dont support the bigger class size yet you are arguing in support of administrators that ALLOW it and then you PAY FOR IT.

quote:

---

And, yet again, you throw out bogus numbers. Baton Rouge has been at or around 30 per class for A LONG time. My mother in law taught at MBS for 25 years. I know this, we've discussed this. These schools are making it work at that number, and have been for years. So I'm ok with it. Certainly better than public schools.

---

FWIW I said "I bet" which means "I dont know but I am going to guess and give your school system the benefit of the doubt" Boy was I wrong to give them the benefit of the doubt.

So since this class size issue is true then to me that makes it even worse. Worse that people like you stand for it, defend it and worse that YOUR Diocese has not done anything about it "for a LONG time" and "they make it work." Demand for slots is sky high, the economy is BOOMING, people are flush with cash, tuition is up, fees are up, so why "make it work?" Why not fix the problem?

quote:

---

So I'm ok with it. Certainly better than public schools.

---

This is probably the logic the Diocese uses in not changing things for the better right?

"32:1 is not that great but it is better than the public schools :shrugs:"

You said because of my comments that you are glad you dont have a kid in the Lafayette Diocese school system, well honestly I am thankful I dont have a kid in the Baton Rouge Diocese School System because paying tuition for 30+:1 in a class would piss me off every month I paid tuition and would probably drive me to one of the smaller non-Catholic schools.

I have never seen or heard of a study that supported bigger class sizes as being conducive to learning. So constantly raising tuition costs and "school feeing" you to death should bring about some peace of mind that your kids are in the best possible Catholic learning environment that they can be in. Except they aren't are they? and the schools that you are paying good money to are "making it work" when in reality they should be providing the best possible product for the money that they possibly can.

quote:

---

reading comprehension is not your strong suit is it?

---

yay, typical generic internet response guy. I could say the same to you, but that would be as lame as adding in one of those 3rd grade quality emoticons you're so fond of.

MY point is, my son is not really far enough along to judge his progress, but I have been told that the BR Catholic schools are tops among all diocese, including your 25 kids per class Lafayette. I don't have a damn thing to support that though. I only see alot of the kids in our neighborhood that have gone through both St Jude and St George kicking arse in College after ST Joe and Catholic High.

I've told you how St Jude handles it with additional sections for math and reading, yet you continue to spout on about 32:1. So comprehension is not going real well for you at this point. So I give the frick up.