Dave Cooks out as coach at Marquette High

[Goose85]

Everyone keeps referring to IWB's "$10,000 tuition to send a kid at MUHS".....where do I go to get that deal? Please direct me.....I want a refund on what I pay....

Guys with the cash like EddieD are expected to pay big big bucks.

[MU88]

Our family sends both of our children to Catholic schools in Madison. The money spent is worth every single penny.

There is a HUGE difference in the learning environment between competing schools in a lot of areas in Wisconsin, not to mention the faith component.

Do public schools have daily religion class, Mass once a week, annual retreats, service days in the community, service-hour requirements?

There is a difference. Not everybody thinks the money spent to send children to Catholic/private schools is worth it. Others, though, think it is.

I am among those who think it is. Thus I can "justify" paying 10K for high school and 3k for grade school.

My thoughts exactly.

BTW, my kid doesn't have a limit on the number of games he plays. He can play on the Catholic grade school team and then play on a feeder program too. For example, the coach of Memorial's feeder program made it a point to say that they don't play games on Catholic school game day and that school practices/games take a priority over feeder team games/practices.

That said, all kids play way, way more than we did. There is a suburban 3rd grade feeder team that practiced together all summer. I think that is a little overboard. They are separating kids into levels at 3th and 4th grade. There is already an "in crowd." Its kind of sad. You know some of these kids get discouraged and quit playing. However, these kids have real potential to blossom and surpass many of the so-called "A" team kids.

[IWB]

Agree 88 - What really threw me for a loop is when they started cutting on select baseball teams in 1st grade. Where I live, there are now three "select" baseball programs, rendering the local rec program to be garbage. It is mind boggling. There are some communities that do it right, have their summer baseball leagues and then have weekend travel teams, but not here. They really ruin it for a lot of people, just so their kids can be on the team with the in-crowd. What makes it worse, is some of the kids are on teams because of the parent coaches when they really don't belong.

As you mentioned, some kids end up discouraged and quit playing when they are in early grade school! You don't know how they are going to grow, develop, adjust.... yet they just are driven out of the sport at a young age.

I could go on and on with specific stories, it is just senseless.

[TheSultan]

It's great that there are a lot of wonderful opportunities for kids to play sports and develop. However there is no longer room for late-bloomers and that's a shame.

[mufansince72]

That is an awfully judgmental statement to make. People make decisions that they feel are best for their families. For you to sit in judgment, in this day and age, is stunning.

Not trying to be judgemental. I suppose if you are very well off financially and can justify that kind of expense for high school, so be it. I understand there are other considerations. I personally don't think there is a ton of upside to paying 40 grand for HS, if you have a good public school option. I don't believe the education is that much more superior at MUHS than it is at most suburban HS's to justify that kind of expense. I have twin HS Jr's right now. They just took the ACT last month. One got a 33, the other a 34. They can go wherever they want to college. They didn't need to pay 40-50 grand in HS to get a good education. I understand circumstances are different for everyone though. I also understand that some people want a religious component to their children's education. There are obviously other factors at play for some people. If you can afford to spend that kind of money on HS, more power to you. I'd rather make the sacrifices that many of you made when I have three kids in college, rather than extending the tuition period over a ten or 12 year period seeing that I have three kids.

[Gato78]

1. Don't need to pay to send a kid to Marquette University either. Whitewater can be just as good...except, there are a whole host of things that can be done at a good private institution that cannot be done at a public school. I am a very staunch supporter of Marquette High and I have seen a lot of good come out of that institution. Like MU, MUHS is small enough that it can make sure kids are on the right path. It cannot take less than bright kids and make them smart. It can keep kids focused and push them to excel. A kid who scores a 33 or 34 on the ACT will have many choices. But the value add for MUHS justifies the cost and it does not end on graduation day.

2. Parents are nuts. They spend so much time and money on making their kids into uber athletes only to be showed up by the kids who have natural talent and not the advantages. I have a friend who had his boys in soccer, they are adults now. They were on every select team and travelled all over the country. When they got to high school, the Mexican kids showed up who had essentially only played in their neighborhood. The Mexican kids were just better. My friend's kids did fine but that was a helluva lot of time, money and effort which only yielded making the team in high school. Talent always wins out over the suburban kids who had big advantages. The parents with kids on 3rd grade travel teams will be severely disappointed later in life.

[mufansince72]

Our family sends both of our children to Catholic schools in Madison. The money spent is worth every single penny.

There is a HUGE difference in the learning environment between competing schools in a lot of areas in Wisconsin, not to mention the faith component.

Do public schools have daily religion class, Mass once a week, annual retreats, service days in the community, service-hour requirements?

There is a difference. Not everybody thinks the money spent to send children to Catholic/private schools is worth it. Others, though, think it is.

I am among those who think it is. Thus I can "justify" paying 10K for high school and 3k for grade school.

I'm glad for you Mark! The only difference I see though is the religion component. While public school kids are not required to have the community service requirements that you mention. It has been my experience that there are plenty of opportunities for those in public school. For all practical purposes if you want to go to a decent college, you need to have the initiative to do the community service anyway. My comments are based primarily on the financial component. From a financial standpoint, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me to pay property taxes, then pay tuition, for an education that in my opinion is not that much superior than what you will get at a good public school. Bottom line in education I believe comes down to the parents.

[eddiedswang]

72......it's more than just religion. It's the constant competition each day with kids who actually have to do the work or they get bounced...it's having 80 kids try out for a baseball team because they all are pretty good.....it's being surrounded by those motivated individual kids who win all of those ancillary sport titles every year (tennis, golf, etc)....it's being held accountable for your work in and out of school. It's alot of stuff.

Most of these kids at MUHS won't score 34 or 35 on their ACT, but the average is 27 (which is highest in the state). Last I looked in 2012, 99% went on to college (with the other 1% being drafted to play pro hockey or taking a year off to travel).... I too question the $$$$$ part and do not enjoy the academic struggles, immense competition for playing time and politics, but my kid needs the discipline. It sucks to deal with every day, but I am betting on the future. Images of the vacation we didn't take or the new car I don't have flash in my head. Trust me.

You are lucky. You are not the rule. Your boys will be successful in going to a good college because of good parenting and the fact that they took elevated classes at their high school with the top 15%. Plus, they are great kids! The other 85% of the kids at their school are happy piddling along, playing x-box and hanging out with no homework each night. And it's even worse at the public schools in Milwaukee. You are the exception.

This thread has taken many directions....when it comes to high schools and paying or not paying, I guess "beauty is in the eye of the beer-holder" .....but I hope MUHS will get a basketball coach who can accept the type of student-athlete who attends MUHS and use this to his benefit. They will never be King or Vincent. The BIGS that made Germnatown and Tokoto-led Meno Falls will never come because they will not get out of their village's "feeder system." MUHS is not Dominican where "stars" are run in each year. Many of these kids do not want to pay the academic price. It's all about their sport. City kids from the disgusting MPS system struggle at MUHS and many leave after one year. So, it is tough keeping those athletes. In the past, they have gone to King and other schools.

MUHS needs to find a Dick Basham type of basketball coach. Those who attened MUHS will know why.

[MUMac]

Not trying to be judgemental. I suppose if you are very well off financially and can justify that kind of expense for high school, so be it. I understand there are other considerations. I personally don't think there is a ton of upside to paying 40 grand for HS, if you have a good public school option. I don't believe the education is that much more superior at MUHS than it is at most suburban HS's to justify that kind of expense. I have twin HS Jr's right now. They just took the ACT last month. One got a 33, the other a 34. They can go wherever they want to college. They didn't need to pay 40-50 grand in HS to get a good education. I understand circumstances are different for everyone though. I also understand that some people want a religious component to their children's education. There are obviously other factors at play for some people. If you can afford to spend that kind of money on HS, more power to you. I'd rather make the sacrifices that many of you made when I have three kids in college, rather than extending the tuition period over a ten or 12 year period seeing that I have three kids.

Again with the judgmental crap. Give me a break. Who are you to decide who is "rich" enough to spend money on their children's education? Your pomposity and ignorance are blending into one big mess. You might just want to quit with your analysis.

[MUMac]

I'm glad for you Mark! The only difference I see though is the religion component. While public school kids are not required to have the community service requirements that you mention. It has been my experience that there are plenty of opportunities for those in public school. For all practical purposes if you want to go to a decent college, you need to have the initiative to do the community service anyway. My comments are based primarily on the financial component. From a financial standpoint, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me to pay property taxes, then pay tuition, for an education that in my opinion is not that much superior than what you will get at a good public school. Bottom line in education I believe comes down to the parents.

I see a difference in the social aspect as well as the after grad. My kids feel a part of a family - the Edgewood family. Just the same as I have felt as part of the Marquette family. I suppose it is wasting money on sending a child to MU with all these wonderful public university options, right?

Yes it was a financial sacrifice, but one that my wife and I (along with our children) were happy to make each day. You continue with the financial judgments based on your decisions. Man, you are something else!