Some people assume that private schools are inherently better than public schools.
Not really.
They select their students and remove those who don’t meet their demands.
One big advantage they have is they are free of meddling politicians.
This private school teacher gives her views:
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I taught in public schools for nearly 30 years and transitioned to private schools after retiring a few years ago, and I can assure you that private schools are not immune from bullying. The world we live in is filled with mean people. Private schools are a good choice because the class sizes are conducive to learning, values are taught, and they have involved parents who are a great support and resource. With that being said, I am not an advocate of vouchers. |
Diane Ravitch's blog
You are so correct.. The real difference, in addition to your points, is that private schools are free from the detrimental NCLB mandates that have destroyed public education by narrowing the curriculum and mandated ineffective testing constraints. When public schools are finally freed from those mandates we will be able to focus our energy and resources on educating students.
How can she ignore the lousy curriculum and textbooks out there? How can she ignore the fact that kids are not being taught grammar?? How can that be ignored by saying ..”if we fund public education and provide manageable class sizes along with ongoing support for teachers and students, success will be an inevitable consequence for all students. “???
I live in a wealthy district with kids in private tutoring. Teachers are paid well. Decent class sizes, yet parents are pulling their kids out of the 2nd best school in the state.
You always assume your situation is everyone’s situation and it is not. You have a vey narrow view and it appears you are unable to learn, consider or process other information and opinions. It is not the brain part I am worried about, but the open mind that you are lacking.
Hey MOM,
I have experience in both the private and public school settings and a wide network of friends who teach in both arenas. I consult with science departments in private schools, helping their teachers come up to speed with state of the art practices and technology pioneered in public schools.
From my view, the quality of instruction at many private schools, even very fancy prep schools, is often (but not always) inferior to that available in public schools. While most public school teachers I know are constantly tuned in to the latest research and are forced to differentiate their instruction, many (not all of course) private school teachers simply lecture, drill and practice. Their kids do well in that setting because (a) they are under tremendous pressure from home and (b) they are often very bright, so they are immune to the lousy teaching.
I think most people who send their kids to private school do so for the same reasons people buy houses in the “right” part of town–better neighbors. The private schools merely collect high-quality students. They don’t necessarily do anything magic with them once they are there.
I would also add a third reason: (c) they will not be socially ostracized for being percieved as very bright.
I taught at a private school once in my career. The owners micromanaged us like vultures circling. We were told in so many words not to give grades below a C. While they were in the early years they were not super selective as long as your parents could pay the $10,000 tuition. I still never saw a true special needs student. They asked me to teach subjects I was not qualified for until my speciality had enough kids enrolled. I have never been that stressed in my life. 2 years of that and I quit teaching and took a job traveling. Then I came back and took a job in a public school. While it is not perfect I prefer it far more than the private school. I believe in public education and I would not spend one dime on any private school for my daughter ever after that experience.
I have spent most of my career thus far in public schools but at the moment I am at a parochial school. In my experience, the parochial school atmosphere feels like the honors classes at the public schools. Even the standard level, sub-honors students exhibit a fairly good work ethic and decent behavior. We enjoy a fair amount of curricular autonomy, although we do parallel the state standards for the public schools. It is a pleasant working and learning environment, but the result is that lately I feel like I have teacher survivor’s guilt!
On the other hand, most of the students are so driven by an obsession about grades, scores, and ranking that it is to their emotional and intellectual detriment. This is another facet of the standardized, data-driven craze (which has infected private schools to some extent). Our guidance counselors return from professional conferences and say that severe student mental health issues about scores and grades are steadily on the rise.
Also many parochial schools are under increasing financial stress and as a result are admitting students that they ordinarily wouldn’t and retaining those who are less likely to succeed in such a setting. This includes an increasing number of students with special ed needs, which parochial schools are not really well- equipped to meet. The result of this is a fair amount of grade inflation and rule-bending which teachers are frustrated about but unable to resist (no union).
A final observation I’ve made is that teacher turnover is pretty high. This is due to poor pay (30% less than our public school colleagues)and less job security, based on what people say when they leave.