Public vs. Private: Devil's Advocate

04.22.2010

Happy Earth Day!!

I’m going to argue against myself here for a moment as a response to my entry of 2 days ago.

By sending a child to private school, you pay for that education. And you pay a lot for it.

Then, by just being a US citizen, you’re paying for public schools to exist by paying taxes.

So, the question that begs to be asked is: Is it really economical to pay twice?

But then…who pays for public schools to exist? Only the families of those who attend them?

This is really unsettling.

Charter vs. Public, That Is The Question

04.21.2010

A hot topic going around the LAUSD circuit is charter schools vs. your regular ol’ public school. In the beginning, I was willing to give charter schools a shot because they seemed to be on the right track in terms of what they wanted to achieve and the opportunities that they offered to students. But after two plus years of reading and listening to the people in education, I’m pretty much against them. And, ironically, I’m mostly against them because I went to a private school. [It’s not about me being snobby, I swear; hear me out.]

Charter schools get to create their curriculum any way they want meaning they don’t have to abide by No Child Left Behind. Now don’t’ get me wrong, I think NCLB is an abomination but, just like private schools, charter schools can create their own system without having to necessarily follow the educational laws. But charter schools are still considered to be a part of the State so they are publicly funded. Private schools don’t get money from the State. And they shouldn’t. They’re private. But then, why are charters exempt from following the law?

Second, charters get to accept any student they want. Just like a private school, they get to cherry pick their student body which means they’re only going to choose those that come from solid families and those whose grades are strong, not to mention how they look. (Trust me, these are weighed. I sat in on the meetings and was grilled in to making those judgments myself.) This process leaves many students even further behind. And again, all of this on the taxpayer’s dime.

Third example, and this isn’t really a complaint about charter schools, there’s a person I know whose child attends a charter school and I heard about many complaints from parents about the volunteer time that is required. You’re a freaking parent. You should be involved in your children’s education from all angles. When I was teaching, I constantly saw the same three parents doing all of the work whereas those parents who almost never showed were the ones complaining about how much time was required. Suck it up.

Fourth, there is no guarantee that a charter school is going to stay open the following year. They may have a contract that is good for a year or two but negotiations have to occur in order for the school to remain open. A lot of charter schools close down. So where do the students go? Back to their old schools where now the education has slipped even more because all the good students were distributed to different charter schools. This reshuffling increases stress on a school’s budget.

I will be the first person to proclaim that there needs to be serious educational overhauls, and I was a proponent as early as the 1990s when it was first proposed, to break up LAUSD. It’s too big and is unable to affectively run the thousands and thousands of students that attend its schools. The union needs to get rid of A.J. Duffy whose only interest is to maintain power but do nothing good and the entire system needs to break into pieces. It’s so exhausting to hear the same topics, the same debates, the same bullshit year after year when, in all honesty, only a handful of LAUSD employees truly care about the students’ welfare. Everyone else (administrators and bureaucrats at headquarters) is too concerned with taking home a bloated paycheck to really fight for what’s right.

[RIP, Jaime Escalante.]

Public vs. Private: An Education

04.20.2010

Continuing with my education topic for the week, I’ll briefly talk about the issue of a public education vs. a private one. Here’s a funny side note on this very topic. About 2 years ago, I came across this list of questions for couples to discuss with each other in an attempt to get closer. As I’m always trying to find ways to keep open Rob’s and my communication, I jumped at this opportunity. The questions were ones like, how you view money, what do you personally wish to achieve in the next 5 years, what’s your view on religion, spirituality, etc. I made a nice dinner for us, had a bottle of wine, and we’re great company (for each other)! What could go wrong? The question that Rob and I got into a knock down, drag out argument over was the one about what kind of an education we would want for our children. It became a public school vs. private school debate as he’s a product of public school and I’m a product of private school.

He felt that I was critical of the education he got and couldn’t understand why I, the one who is most vocal about the hypocritical nature of the Catholic Church, would want to send my kids to a private, religious institution.

My argument wasn’t about what kind of a religious institution the kids would go to. Cause I don’t really care. Rob was raised Lutheran and so I’m perfectly OK with them going to a Lutheran school. One of the biggest reasons for me has to do with uniforms, silly as that may sound. It is only recently that people are finding that when kids, especially high school students, are in uniform, the behavioral problems decrease significantly. Students become more focused and are less inclined to dwell on brand competition. If public schools had uniforms, I’d most likely change my tune. I ask, what is the first change implemented in a public school when the State takes it over? Uniforms are brought in and test scores go up. The scores may not go up dramatically within that first year but, let’s face it, they go up. But it’s the changes in the needed disciplinary actions that significantly decrease once uniforms are implemented.

There’s also something to be said for when you (directly) pay for an education. You can have more of a direct say with how it’s being handled. With public schools, you may complain to the principal, but because of bureaucracy you’re going to be knocking your head up against a brick wall much sooner than you would in a private school.

Having said that, I have a thing or two to say about private schools too. I attended them most of my life and worked for 2 years as a teacher in private schools. There are definite drawbacks (like the stupid rule: no co-ed parties in junior high. Really? Cause what I do at home is not a part of the school’s jurisdiction). In the end, whether we send the kids to a public or private school (and I haven’t even discussed tuition here), I already know that I’m going to be my child’s school’s worst nightmare because I know exactly what to look for (textbook publication dates, extra curricular activity availability, homework assignments, e.g.) and, most importantly, how many new teachers the school has and what is the turnover rate.

If you’re gonna do it (be a parent), then, well…do it right. Right?