Some differences between private and public schools are obvious.
But deciding what’s right for your child means shedding light on the subtle distinctions many parents ignore.
Whether private or private school is better is a debate that rages across the playgrounds and living rooms of America. In fact, according to a 2009 Great Schools and Harris Interactive poll, nearly out in four parents are currently considering switching their child’s school to either from private to public or from public to private as a result of the economy.
What’s better for your child? How can you compare private and public schools when they seem so alike? Is it like comparing apples and oranges — two different things that can’t be fairly held to the same standards?
While this primer won’t dare takes sides, it will touch on the most fundamental differences between public and private schools — as well as a few subtle distinctions that might make all the difference for your child.
The bottom line
The most obvious discrepancy between public and private schools comes down to cold, hard cash. The good news for parents is that public schools cannot charge tuition. The bad news is that public schools are complex, often have underfunded operations influenced by political winds and shortfalls. Financed through federal, state, and local taxes, public schools are part of a larger school system, which functions as a part of the government and must follow the rules and regulations set by politicians.
In contrast, private schools must generate their own funding, which typically comes from a variety of sources like tuition, private grants, and fundraising from parents, alumni, and other community members. If the school is associated with a religious group, the local branch may provide an important source of funding as well.
The admissions game
Another obvious distinction between public and private schools results from their respective admissions procedures. By law, public schools must accept all children. In many cases, enrolling your child involves little more than filling out a few forms and providing proof of your address to the local school district office. In practice, however, getting your child into the public school of his or her choice can be much more complicated.
Because not all public schools have the means for helping students with special needs, enrolling a child with a learning disability or other disorder may entail a more complex process. Similarly, in school districts with “school choice” policies, the procedure for finding a public school may require that parents enter a lottery to gain admission for their child into their top pick. Finally, at the high school level, many districts in larger metropolitan areas offer special schools with competitive enrollment based on students’ GPAs or artistic portfolios.
Private schools, by their very definition, are selective. They are not obligated to accept every child, so getting admitted may involve in-depth applications with multiple interviews, essays, and testing. Because private schools define the identity of their communities, they often pick and choose between candidates based not only on their scholastic achievement but also their ethnicity and religious background — as well as the special attributes (or assets) of their parents.
Teachers, curriculum, and class size
While most people assume that instructors at private schools are as qualified as those at public ones, it’s important to note that all teachers in a public school are usually state certified or, at a minimum, working toward certification. Certification ensures that a teacher has gone through the training required by the state, which includes student teaching and course work. Teachers in private schools may not be required to have certification. Instead, they often have subject-area expertise and an undergraduate or graduate degree in the subject they teach.
There’s a similar discrepancy between curriculum development in private and public schools. Public schools must follow state guidelines that set out specific standards and assessment procedures. In theory, this creates a certain amount of quality control. Private schools, on the other hand, can choose whatever curriculum and assessment model they wish. This freedom to design their own curriculum or avoid standardized tests can result in higher standards for students — or lower.
Special needs
Due to special education laws, public schools must educate all children and provide the necessary lessons to meet their special needs. This means that all school districts have special education programs and teachers who are trained to work with special-needs students.
Private schools do not have to accept children with special needs, and many choose not to. As a result, most private schools do not have special education programs or teachers trained to work with that student population. Some private schools will try to help all the students they admit, but extra resources may come at an additional cost. Other private schools practice something called “counseling out” — recommending that children with learning disabilities look elsewhere for a school.
How do you know what’s better for your child?
Don’t rely on rumors when it comes to deciding between private and public. Visit the schools and ask the teachers lots of questions. Read school profiles. At the end of the day, the best school for your child is a highly personal decision based on your family, your values, and, most important, the special needs, characteristics, and interests of your kid. Let the debate rage on, but don’t forget about the one person for whom this decision is far more than sandbox banter.
Testing, testing!
Private school students typically score higher than public school students on standardized tests, but a 2006 study by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), which took into account students’ backgrounds, told a different story.
Public school students in fourth and eighth grade scored almost as well or better than their private school peers in reading and math, except that private school students excelled in eighth-grade reading.
A Harvard University study challenged the results, using the same data but different methods. Researchers found that private schools came out ahead in 11 of 12 comparisons of students.
But as a dissenting view from the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation’s Education Gadfly newsletter showed, the debate over which kind of school does a better job is far from being settled.