NationStates Jolt Archive

Which do you think is better...Public or Private Schools? As a student, parent, Educator..what is your opinion? Pros and cons of each?



Edit: If you feel homeschooling is the better choice, please include that in the discussion.

I'm gonna say depends on the kid. Public schools are okay I suppose (though not the ones around here) I don't think that I would spend my money on private school, because they seem the same as public only more one on one time (class ratio in public here being 35 to 1, while private is 15 to 1) and if I had a kid who needed that extra one on one time I might go for it.

Homeschooling makes more sense to me, but not everyone is willing or able to do that, so depending on your kid find the best school for them.

final answer.

I think you'll have to clarify what the difference is between a public and private school first - I'm assuming you're American? If you are, I think the terms mean different things in our different countries.

Ya know what Smunk....I totally should have added homeschooling in the discussion. My apologies.

Edit: I edited it

that's okay Peech, most people don't really have that option or even really want it. Besides you came to my defense when I needed it so, I am still happy to have you as an online friend, I couldn't be mad. ;)

that's okay Peech, most people don't really have that option or even really want it. Besides you came to my defense when I needed it so, I am still happy to have you as an online friend, I couldn't be mad. ;)

Thanks Smunk:) I believe in standing up for myself and others when I see them being treated unfairly. I welcome your advice on just about anything. Medicine or recipes;)

I go to publ;ic school and, more due to my attitude than my potential am performing to a moderate degree but having fun and generally doing OK.

One of my cousins had the drive in public school that he really benefitted from private schooling now.

Other cousins of mine go to private school from the start and are doing insanely well.

Personally I'm happy as I am. OK so I could use a job round about now but no job I can get (timeframe etc) requires more than 'not being retarded' anyway so it's just a matter of plugging away until I get one.

I agree that it depends on the child.

I think I got a pretty damn good education in K-12, at public institutions the entire time.

Still, there are things to be said about both home-schooling and private institutions.

I guess if it were a decision I was faced with, I would homeschool my kid in the beginning, switch them to public during early teens, then private for high-school.

Best for each developmental stage, I would think. :)

I agree that it depends on the child.

I think I got a pretty damn good education in K-12, at public institutions the entire time.

Still, there are things to be said about both home-schooling and private institutions.

I guess if it were a decision I was faced with, I would homeschool my kid in the beginning, switch them to public during early teens, then private for high-school.

Best for each developmental stage, I would think. :)
why public in the early teens?

I understand why a lot of my homeschool friends put their kids in "real highschool" (even though they are hopelessly bored) but, I am curious about your "best for development" angle.

If you're lucky enough to live in a rich-enough place like Oakland County, public schools are quite good. Otherwise, private schools are much better.

Which do you think is better...Public or Private Schools? As a student, parent, Educator..what is your opinion? Pros and cons of each?

Private schools have proven time and time again to be superior to government education in virtually every area measurable. This is not to say public schools do not have their place as they clearly do. The problem with public education has it's roots in the government take over of the educational system around 1965 when the Johnsonite socalist utopians decided they would create some sort of crackpot "great society" nonsense. Since that time education has had to take a back burner to the "noble" social engineering, necessary to completely subjegate the population from truth and reality. This is further compounded by the fact that all bureaucracies have one thing in common. Their goal becomes not what they were designed to do, but to grow themselves into a larger and more powerful entity, by increasing their budget, and grabbing authority.
With the addition of private alternatives, there will be sufficient competition to ensure that when our governmental schools begin to lose track of their goals, their falling attendance can properly be blamed on the administrative policies of that school instead of the parents and children who have long since opted for a quality private education. (With the money that would have gone to the public school had they chosen to do their job)
It is a win/win situation for the kids if they have an alternative to a bad school.

Thanks Smunk:) I believe in standing up for myself and others when I see them being treated unfairly. I welcome your advice on just about anything. Medicine or recipes;)
DITTO!

DITTO!

Have you visited the recipe thread today?

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Homeschooling makes more sense to me, but not everyone is willing or able to do that, so depending on your kid find the best school for them.

final answer.

I'm a strong advocate of home schooling, however, I am not so sure that most parents are equiped to deal with the underhanded tatics governmental bureaucrats use or the length they will go to in order to prevent people from home schooling. In my opinion it takes a very special parent to fight them.

I'm a strong advocate of home schooling, however, I am not so sure that most parents are equiped to deal with the underhanded tatics governmental bureaucrats use or the length they will go to in order to prevent people from home schooling. In my opinion it takes a very special parent to fight them.


I think the gov't should give parents who homeschool an allowance for materials and things like field trips. A small expense reimbursement could help out a lot.

The cavieat I find with many private schools is that they are religiously affilated, and I don't feel it would be in a child's best interests to be exposed to religion in that way from a young age.

Its clear private schools offer better teachers, equipment and general resources so while you're not guarenteed to do better you certainly have the motivation and opportunity (from teachers and I'd suppose parents if they're paying the money) to excell and perform better.

I think a good comprehensive school (like one I attended) should be inclusive of all types of people and ability (Perhaps if it is a specialist school it should be allowed some gifted kids in that feild). And then from a fairly young age 10/11 begin to group by ability (within the school) particuarly for maths/science/English. With regular movement in between groups. So that the smarter students can excell in a fast learning group and the lesser students can potentially move up if they work hard so they also have the opportunity to succeed (although I'll conced it may be slightly harder for them).

I think there are a dangerous number of private schools too religiously devout, basically limiting a childs choice (on religion) and independent thought. And I actually trust the government to provide a better sylabus than most private institutions. But a choice should always be avalible and everyone should take the same GCSE's/ A levels.

I think the gov't should give parents who homeschool an allowance for materials and things like field trips. A small expense reimbursement could help out a lot.

I think they should be allowed whatever the per head price the public or private schools get. Unfortunately, what they get is harrasessed, thrown into court, and have SRS and other welfare agencies set loose upon them. It's pathetic to see these sorry bureaucrats lining their pockets and using taxpayer money to maintain their status and pad their egos. They have completely forgotten that they are the servant, not the other way around.

I’m responding as a parent in the U.S., and as someone involved in education, albeit adult ed, not K-12.

I do have to say that the poll choices seem slanted with the assumption that private schools, by default, provide a higher quality of education. I’m choosing public schools for two reasons. First, because of my experiences with both public and private schools where I live, and second, because I believe that communities have a responsibility to educate their children (and adults, too, but that’s another thread.) It’s not a “constitutional-given right” type opinion, more an economic one.

That said, I think that what is truly best depends greatly on your location, and the rigor of the curriculum in the respective schools (or your home-based curriculum). My daughter is currently in our local public school and frankly, I wouldn’t send her anywhere else, cost or not. Her dad was a product of a private school; I went to public school, and not surprisingly, those were our respective preferences for educating her. I acquiesced, and we sent her to a private school for a year until it became apparent that she was bored, unchallenged and being held back academically because of lack of individualized instruction. When I learned that in the upper grades, students were only receiving science and social studies instruction once a week – if the kids were lucky – we pulled her from the school.

In our public school, my daughter receives much more individualized instruction, is challenged to her skill level, and loves to go. Our public school has superior facilities to our local private schools on all fronts, from the playground area, to physical classroom size, to science equipment, to art and music education, to library facilities. When evaluated objectively, it didn’t make any sense to pay extra for her to get an inferior education.

I went to university as a biology major, with private school graduates who had to be taught how to use the lab equipment because they had no experience with it. I knew “honors students” who did not know how to adequately cite sources in a term paper. It seems to me that there is a lot of ego stroking with “name brand” schools and “honors programs”, building the kids up to believe they are brilliant and invincible, when they cannot function outside that environment when they are lumped in with everyone else.

The only way to make a determination which choice is better is to go into a school, interview people, and when you send you child there, to be involved. Homeschooling, while a perfectly sound choice for some, is not the best choice for our child. It has nothing to do with my abilities or desires, it is about hers.

The cavieat I find with many private schools is that they are religiously affilated, and I don't feel it would be in a child's best interests to be exposed to religion in that way from a young age.

I know of parents of one religion who sent their children to a school of another religion and the children were not involved in the religious aspect of the school. In the specific case the child was Hindu and the elementary school was Roman Catholic. John Adams (a Unitarian) sent his son to Roman Catholic nuns when he was in France and they didn't teach the religious stuff.

There is also the growing "charter" school system which is not religious and has some degree of public funding.

Having grown up with both public and private schools, I slightly prefer the latter. Then again, there were a whole lot of strange people trying to design the public system in their images when I was a lad.

The cavieat I find with many private schools is that they are religiously affilated, and I don't feel it would be in a child's best interests to be exposed to religion in that way from a young age.

Fortunately for us all, there is still some protection against those that feel they have some kind of right to determine whether or not a parent can send their child to a superior school that combines their religious education with it.
Personally, I don't feel it is in a childs best interest to be exposed to those that feel they have the right to dictate how anyone else chooses to live their life, or that their beliefs must conform to your ideas.