KIDS THESE DAYS:

I have often wondered what is it about private schools that make otherwise intelligent people spend many thousands of dollars for something they can get for “free” because it is included in the taxes they pay.

Is there really that much of a difference? Apparently, the parents or guardians of more than 6 million students think so. That’s the number of kids who attended private schools in grades pre-kindergarten through 12, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

And for those of you who think private schools are only for the children of the wealthy, here’s a surprise: Of the 8 million youngsters in grades K-12 in 2005 who come from families with annual incomes of $100,000 or more, 80% (6.4 million) attend public schools and 20% (1.6 million) attend private schools, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, School Enrollment—Social and Economic Characteristics of Students: October 2005.

Viewed another way, that means that just three years ago, 80% of the kids who were attending private schools came from families with household incomes of less than $100,000. Odd, considering the fact that these are the families who are most likely to want to take advantage of that free education.

So what is it about private schools that causes these regular folks to stretch their incomes so their kids can have this education?

Susan Bothwell is the director of admissions for Carden Hall School in Newport Beach. Carden Hall educates children from kindergarten through eighth grade. I asked Bothwell why a parent in Newport Beach, which has excellent public elementary and middle schools, would pay several thousand dollars on top of their taxes for a Carden education.

“We have very small class sizes and we have subjects which may not be available in public schools,” Bothwell said. “We also have physical education every day as well as music every day at all grade levels. We have art once or twice a week at all grade levels and French every day at all grade levels.”

After hearing the list, I told Bothwell it sounded as though the school had full programs in most of the programs on which the public schools had cut back over the years.

“These are the things that parents pay extra for. So if a parent wants a full music program or a foreign language for their child, it’s all part of our curriculum. It’s a very sequential program and the subjects are inter-related whenever possible.”

For students, that inter-relationship means that the book or figure they are studying in literature may also be the subject in their history class. Good idea.

The differences in curriculum at schools such as Carden Hall may be worth the money for there is a direct relationship between music studies and improved grades. That, in turn, can lead to academic achievements that will enhance a student’s resume and make him or her more likely to get into a better college.

Achieving an education that is different from a typical public school but without the additional investment of a private school is also possible for parents in Newport-Mesa.

The difference is a charter school, which is a public school on steroids. Our daughter has been attending an exceptional charter school out of the district since the middle of eighth grade. She is graduating from that school, the Orange County High School of the Arts, in June.

Orange County High School of the Arts attracts kids from all over the county and a few outside of the county. At Orange County High School of the Arts, the academic curriculum is free but parents pay for the three hours of conservatory education their kids receive every day. Those conservatories range from several types of dance to creative writing.

Orange County High School of the Arts test scores are consistently among the highest in the state.

Over the years, local parents and charter school groups have brought proposals before the Newport-Mesa school board, only to back off because the approval process is too demanding.

As a result, kids in several elementary schools in Costa Mesa continue to lag far behind their peers.

Bothwell declined to comment on whether a statewide voucher program is a good idea, but she was firm on the major difference between Carden and other schools.

“We feel that character development is our most important job,” she said.

That’s an important job and one that many parents apparently don’t mind paying extra for.

STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and a freelance writer. Send story ideas to dailypilot@latimes.com.