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AbsentEmpire OP t1_j9pures wrote

Reply to comment by JBizznass in Every year, there are more applicants to Philly charters than seats. But demand is still lower than before the pandemic. by AbsentEmpire

I think the article would have been better if they also referenced in the current number of school age children in the city, along with public and private school enrollments compared with pre and post pandemic to really get a picture of what families with children are doing.

I think the idea that parents who went to private during 2020 because they open and have just opted to stay in them, is also a good theory.

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JBizznass t1_j9qvx6t wrote

If you are paying for private school and you don’t have to live in the city (like as a job requirement) it doesn’t make financial sense to stay in the city. Tuition at Roman Catholic is over $10k a year for one student. My property taxes in Delco for a 3k sq ft house on a quarter acre is less than that and have access to a top tier public school. And don’t pay any wage taxes. Why would you stay and pay more for less?

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AbsentEmpire OP t1_j9rpgtw wrote

Well as another commenter suggested for one of the possible reasons there are so many charter applications from the Northeast, is that they're multi general residents with family and friends who live around them, and they don't want to give that up, so they pay for private school.

It's a personal choice where finance isn't the sole factor for decision making, factors such as proximity of your support network, the inconvenience of moving versus the quality of the neighborhood you're currently in, etc.

Otherwise you're right, if one was to make a choice purely based on finance and quality of government services, moving to the suburbs is the better option every single time without question.

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