Writer's Block: Be true to your school
Sep. 4th, 2010 10:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Ultimately the quality of a school is completely dependent on the individual school/school district, not whether the school is public or private.
As general categories, they each have some distinct advantages. Probably the best part of private schools is parental involvement. If parents care so much about their child's education to pay tuition for it, it usually follows they care enough about their child's education to help their child with homework and attend parent-teacher conferences. Students may be no more enthused about private school than public, but private schools and the students who attend them are more likely to be supported by concerned and active parents, which creates a better environment at the school and more communication and consistency between teachers and parents, both of which increase student success. Private schools may also offer some unique educational opportunities that aren't found in public schools, such as religious education or a unique philosophy of teaching/learning such as is utilized at Montessori or Waldorf schools.
However, at public schools teachers must be approved by state certification boards, which demand so many hours of coursework in their subjects and pedagogy as well as a term of student-teaching. Public school teachers are guaranteed to have met at least a minimum set of standards. Private schools, however, may hire teachers with no certification or even teaching experience. Of course, private schools may sometimes have stricter standards for their teachers, too, but with public schools the standards are fairly consistent and well documented for the public. The curricula are also consistent. (Or at least supposed to be).
Also, public schools are free, which means they are accessible to everyone-- which is a benefit if I ever heard it! Universal education is an amazing thing, a privilege (viewed as a right in this country, and how awesome is that?) I think we should never take for granted. Can you imagine the effect on society if all schooling were private?
Of course, I've encountered people who consider this a disadvantage; they'd rather not send their children to school with "riff-raff" who dumb down the curriculum or even put their children in danger. However, having attended public schools K-12, most of that time in schools that had a very "rough" element, I kind of feel like that sentiment is at best paranoid and at worst elitist, classist, and often somewhat racist. The real world involves the same sorts of "rough" people-- isn't it best to learn how to live amongst them? I am comfortable with people from a wide variety of backgrounds, getting along with those who want to and tactfully sidestepping those who don't. I learned that during my time in school and I have to say, it's a pretty good skill.
Plus while from the perspective of an individual family I definitely see the appeal of sending one's children to private schools in public districts well established as of unacceptably poor quality and violent-- in that case I'd definitely consider sending my children to them as well!-- in the big picture I sometimes wonder if the diaspora of involved families to private schools is destructive to the community at large. The parents with the money and drive to do things like fundraise, help out in classrooms, supervise activity trips (like sports meets and band competitions), and run the PTA with the effectiveness of a day job are then more absent from the public schools, leaving those schools with less community support-- which makes the task of catching up the students already without substantial parental support exponentially harder, and the gap between the rich/educated and poor/undereducated deepens.
I avoid judging people based on whether they attended private or public schools, so in turn I wish "private" and "public" schools weren't lumped into general categories that people can objectively judge as good vs. bad, either. While some public schools are obviously struggling to give students a good education and hold on to qualified teachers-- many of my alma maters included-- there are also some really kickass public schools with involved parents, highly qualified teachers, motivated students, good facilities, and excellent funding. (And thank you, NCLB, for making these already superior schools even more superior while the underfunded, underprivileged districts get penalized and grow even worse). Conversely, despite the image of private schools as cozy centers of learning for motivated "cream of the crop"-type students, there are some private schools who squander their potential with second-rate education or more emphasis on an agenda than academic learning. (And as for the myth that students who attend private school are from good families and are therefore "better"-- well-mannered, smart, motivated, etc-- here's a secret: Kids that get expelled from public school often end up at privates!).
My opinion is that if there are certain concrete features about a private school that set it apart from public schools-- a religious component, an alternative curriculum, a focus on a certain subject material in which the child excels, etc-- I approve of the parents' choice to enroll their child in one. However, I think sending children to private school just because it is perceived as *better* in all ways is not only slightly elitist and potentially detrimental to the rest of the community . . . but in many cases outright false!
So if you're trying to decide where to send your child(ren) for school, talk to teachers and families enrolled in all types of schools in your area to get an idea of the type and quality of education, the school environment, the nature of parental involvement, and student response both academically and emotionally. What is the best fit for your family? What is the best fit for your child? It's not really a matter of *best* and worst,* but individual cases and individual fit.
And if you still think public schools are, as a rule, "bad" . . . Well, let's try to fix them, instead of just fleeing the problem!
Ultimately the quality of a school is completely dependent on the individual school/school district, not whether the school is public or private.
As general categories, they each have some distinct advantages. Probably the best part of private schools is parental involvement. If parents care so much about their child's education to pay tuition for it, it usually follows they care enough about their child's education to help their child with homework and attend parent-teacher conferences. Students may be no more enthused about private school than public, but private schools and the students who attend them are more likely to be supported by concerned and active parents, which creates a better environment at the school and more communication and consistency between teachers and parents, both of which increase student success. Private schools may also offer some unique educational opportunities that aren't found in public schools, such as religious education or a unique philosophy of teaching/learning such as is utilized at Montessori or Waldorf schools.
However, at public schools teachers must be approved by state certification boards, which demand so many hours of coursework in their subjects and pedagogy as well as a term of student-teaching. Public school teachers are guaranteed to have met at least a minimum set of standards. Private schools, however, may hire teachers with no certification or even teaching experience. Of course, private schools may sometimes have stricter standards for their teachers, too, but with public schools the standards are fairly consistent and well documented for the public. The curricula are also consistent. (Or at least supposed to be).
Also, public schools are free, which means they are accessible to everyone-- which is a benefit if I ever heard it! Universal education is an amazing thing, a privilege (viewed as a right in this country, and how awesome is that?) I think we should never take for granted. Can you imagine the effect on society if all schooling were private?
Of course, I've encountered people who consider this a disadvantage; they'd rather not send their children to school with "riff-raff" who dumb down the curriculum or even put their children in danger. However, having attended public schools K-12, most of that time in schools that had a very "rough" element, I kind of feel like that sentiment is at best paranoid and at worst elitist, classist, and often somewhat racist. The real world involves the same sorts of "rough" people-- isn't it best to learn how to live amongst them? I am comfortable with people from a wide variety of backgrounds, getting along with those who want to and tactfully sidestepping those who don't. I learned that during my time in school and I have to say, it's a pretty good skill.
Plus while from the perspective of an individual family I definitely see the appeal of sending one's children to private schools in public districts well established as of unacceptably poor quality and violent-- in that case I'd definitely consider sending my children to them as well!-- in the big picture I sometimes wonder if the diaspora of involved families to private schools is destructive to the community at large. The parents with the money and drive to do things like fundraise, help out in classrooms, supervise activity trips (like sports meets and band competitions), and run the PTA with the effectiveness of a day job are then more absent from the public schools, leaving those schools with less community support-- which makes the task of catching up the students already without substantial parental support exponentially harder, and the gap between the rich/educated and poor/undereducated deepens.
I avoid judging people based on whether they attended private or public schools, so in turn I wish "private" and "public" schools weren't lumped into general categories that people can objectively judge as good vs. bad, either. While some public schools are obviously struggling to give students a good education and hold on to qualified teachers-- many of my alma maters included-- there are also some really kickass public schools with involved parents, highly qualified teachers, motivated students, good facilities, and excellent funding. (And thank you, NCLB, for making these already superior schools even more superior while the underfunded, underprivileged districts get penalized and grow even worse). Conversely, despite the image of private schools as cozy centers of learning for motivated "cream of the crop"-type students, there are some private schools who squander their potential with second-rate education or more emphasis on an agenda than academic learning. (And as for the myth that students who attend private school are from good families and are therefore "better"-- well-mannered, smart, motivated, etc-- here's a secret: Kids that get expelled from public school often end up at privates!).
My opinion is that if there are certain concrete features about a private school that set it apart from public schools-- a religious component, an alternative curriculum, a focus on a certain subject material in which the child excels, etc-- I approve of the parents' choice to enroll their child in one. However, I think sending children to private school just because it is perceived as *better* in all ways is not only slightly elitist and potentially detrimental to the rest of the community . . . but in many cases outright false!
So if you're trying to decide where to send your child(ren) for school, talk to teachers and families enrolled in all types of schools in your area to get an idea of the type and quality of education, the school environment, the nature of parental involvement, and student response both academically and emotionally. What is the best fit for your family? What is the best fit for your child? It's not really a matter of *best* and worst,* but individual cases and individual fit.
And if you still think public schools are, as a rule, "bad" . . . Well, let's try to fix them, instead of just fleeing the problem!
