Private school vs public school in DFW: An honest comparison

The private vs public debate in DFW is heated. Here's the data-driven take.

Private school costs in DFW (annual tuition):

• Hockaday (Dallas, girls) — $30,000-35,000. Source: hockaday.org
• St. Mark's (Dallas, boys) — $30,000-35,000. Source: smtexas.org
• Parish Episcopal — $20,000-28,000. Source: parishepiscopal.org
• Jesuit College Prep (Dallas, boys) — $20,000-22,000. Source: jesuitcp.org
• Fort Worth Country Day — $22,000-28,000. Source: fwcd.org
• Trinity Valley (Fort Worth) — $18,000-24,000. Source: trinityvalleyschool.org
• Parochial/Catholic schools — $6,000-12,000. Much more affordable.

What private gets you:

• Smaller class sizes (12-18 vs 22-30)
• More resources per student
• College counseling starts earlier
• Network/connections (real talk)

What top public districts deliver:

• AP/IB programs rivaling any private school (Plano West IB, Carroll ISD)
• Sports and extracurricular programs private schools can't match (public school funding + scale)
• Diversity of experience
• $0 tuition

The math:

• K-12 private: $200,000-450,000 per child
• That money invested in a 529 plan at 7% return: $300,000-700,000 for college
• Or: buy a house in Southlake Carroll ISD ($600K) and get the education "free"

Sources:

• School websites for tuition
• Niche.com for rankings
• TEA for public school accountability data

No right answer here. What did you choose and why?