Parents shouldn't have to dip into the college fund to pay for private elementary or high schools for their children. Yet many private schools in the U.S. cost tens of thousands of dollars to attend.

Experts say that the high tuition costs of private schools puts many medium- or low-income parents in a difficult position: They may not want to send their children to public schools, but they cannot afford expensive private-school tuition "- especially if they plan to pay for college. Fortunately for many of these parents, there are now other quality, low-cost education options for their children.

For instance, author Joel Turtel talks about Internet private schools in his new book. Turtel says Internet private schools provide "excellent educations" for K-12 kids and charge tuition that in some of these schools is as low as $350 a year.

For example, in his book "Public Schools, Public Menace: How Public Schools Lie To Parents and Betray Our Children" (Liberty Books, $17.95), Turtel talks about the Clonlara School. This Internet private school serves K-8th grade kids and charges about $850 a year. He says children get a thorough education in reading, math, history and many other subjects in the curriculum, and the school assigns a personal teacher to each child.

Turtel adds that many accredited Internet private schools now give a course of study similar to traditional private schools. They take children through a progressive curriculum in math, science, reading and writing, history and many other subjects. He argues that this structured, comprehensive program, in effect, gives children a personal teacher and private-school education in the safety of their own living room.

Turtel points out that Internet private schools can be especially helpful for single working parents or families in which both mother and father work. He says that since Internet-school teachers supervise the child's education, it's less likely that parents will have to take time off from work or quit their job to homeschool their kids.

Turtel's book has an entire section devoted to Internet private schools, as well as other education options for parents. The author lists dozens of Internet private schools with their Web sites. Parents can use the book to quickly research these schools, find out if the yearly tuition fits their budget and if the curriculum and teaching methods look suitable for their child.