Census: 1 in 3 Seattle students in private schools

Private enrollment figures among highest in nation

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Originally published November 22, 2001

"A lot of wealthier and more educated people have moved into the city. Even if the public schools were better, these parents would still send their kids to private schools." -- Richard Morrill, demographer

SEATTLE -- Nearly one-third of Seattle students attend private schools, a number that ranks among the highest in the country for big cities, census figures show.

About 19,200 first- through 12th-graders, 30.6 percent, attend religious or other independent schools.

Census analysts say the survey sample of 700,000 households was too small to say definitively which cities have the highest ratio of privately educated children. But among them are Seattle; Honolulu, with 27.3 percent; San Francisco, 24.6 percent; and Pittsburgh, 23.3 percent.

Experts point to Seattle's concentration of high-tech and aerospace workers. Some 52 percent of Seattle residents older than age 25 have earned at least a bachelor's degree.

"A lot of wealthier and more educated people have moved into the city," University of Washington demographer Richard Morrill told a Seattle newspaper. "Even if the public schools were better, these parents would still send their kids to private schools."

In Seattle's lower grades -- first through fourth -- even more attend private school: 36 percent.

"I don't think it's a reflection on the public schools here," said Seattle schools Superintendent Joseph Olchefske. "We have a very large middle class and upper class, and they can afford private schools."

Seattle's private-school enrollment began to increase in 1978, when the school district introduced mandatory busing. The practice ended in 1989, but the demand for private education has not dissipated, Morrill said.

There are now a record 509 state-approved private schools in Washington. Since 1995, an average of 21 new private schools have registered with the state each year, three times more each year than during the early 1990s.

Dan Sherman, executive director of the Washington Federation of Independent Schools, said the Seattle School District is so large that its schools have trouble coming off as small and welcoming.

On the other hand, he said, parents can walk into a private school and know that decisions concerning their children are being made right there.

That was part of the reason Dabney and Steve Rohrbach decided to enroll their three children in private school when they moved from Chicago to Seattle four years ago.

The best education "is the biggest gift we could give our children," Dabney Rohrbach said. "It gives them the best footing and foundation for their adult life."

Another oft-cited reason is access to programs, said Jean Orvis, director of Seattle Academy.

"One girl talked about going to a larger (public) school, but finding she could get an arts class only when she was a senior, whereas in a smaller, private school she had access to that," Orvis said. "Students could get into sports and technology programs easily in private schools."

Those are issues the Seattle School District has tried to address. It has recently created more rigorous academic programs, such as the high-tech academy at Cleveland High School and the biotech academy at Ballard High, and it has dipped into its budget to pay for all-day kindergarten at every elementary school.

School Board President Don Nielsen said the district has made progress in keeping high school and elementary students. He points to the success of the John Stanford International School, which has language-immersion programs.

As many as one-third of that school's students would have gone to private schools if not for its language programs, Nielsen said.

The district is now trying to keep more middle school students in public schools, and talking about creating smaller middle schools and reconfiguring others to run from kindergarten to eighth grade.

The Olympian Copyright 2001

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