Pros And Cons Of Private Schools In The United States

Throughout the history of public education, there have been barriers to the equality of opportunity philosophy. Thomas Jefferson’s proposal and Horace Mann’s implementation of public schools excluded non-citizens like blacks, women, and Native Americans. Next, an increase in immigration and industrialization widened cultural and economic differences between students. The greatest obstacle to equal education

In the United States, getting an education is very important. Children spend thirteen years of their life learning English, history, math, science, and various other subjects so that they may one day be a productive college student or a working class citizen. In fact, “There are 33,619 private schools in the United States, serving 5.4 million PK-12 students. Private schools account for 25 percent of the nation’s schools and enroll 10 percent of all PK-12 students” (“Council for American Private Education”). Parents face many issues when deciding which school is right for their child. However, the factors that determine their choice of a private or public school are often the results of various essentials that closely mirror the parent’s ideology in regards to education. Parents should send their children to a private school because private schools have smaller class sizes, the curriculum is more challenging, and the school environment is much safer than public schools.

No child attending public school should have to be put at a disadvantage for the sake of a few privileged children to be able to attend private institutions.

The United States is a country based on equal opportunity; every citizen is to be given the same chance as another to succeed. This includes the government providing the opportunity of equal education to all children. All children are provided schools to attend. However, the quality of one school compared to another is undoubtedly unfair. Former teacher John Kozol, when being transferred to a new school, said, "The shock from going from one of the poorest schools to one of the wealthiest cannot be overstated (Kozol 2)." The education gap between higher and lower-income schools is obvious: therefore, the United States is making the effort to provide an equal education with questionable results.

According to Samuel Flam and William Keane authors of Public Schools: Private Enterprise, the definition of privatize is “...the process of turning over to private companies, programs, services and sometimes properties previously operated and/or owned by a government agency” (Flam & Keane, 1997, p.15). Privatizing of a school service is selling a service of the school district to a private company that runs, maintains and keeps up the service. The school district no longer oversees this service and virtually has no control over what they do but outsourcing this service would cut back on the economic spending of the school. A school service is something that students receive that is provided for them in school to enhance their well-being. In the school system, some examples of services that could be outsourced by a private company are school lunches, buses and janitor staff. According to Joe Argon author of Changing of the Guard, “for schools, transportation, food service, HVAC maintenance, computer servicing and printing continue to be the areas privatized most often” (Argon, 1997). The main issue behind this is finding out if privatizing school services does the school district more harm or good and what happens to the services and students after they have been privatized.

In today’s day and age most people expect the educational system to be equal among all students; people expect these students to grow up and get a good job with the education they have been taught throughout the years. But how can this be achieved when the system is not even close to being equal or fair? In this world, there are schools in poverty and then there are more privileged schools. At the higher class schools, the students are given an amazing education with more supplies and funding, whereas at the schools in poverty it is the complete opposite. In Kandice Sumners TedTalk (2016), How America's public schools keep kids in poverty, she rants about this exact topic. She has seen both worlds of the school controversy. She’s been to a high-class school and learned so much from them as a student, but now she teaches at a school in poverty and only wishes that she could have the same exact supplies and funding for her students. There is obviously a

As stated before, if families could afford to send their children to private school then they should be sent there. My mom helped her brothers and sisters by paying for their children’s education. Education was very important because it allows them to make their own money and they would be able to help out their family. My mom allowed my sister and I to receive the best education possible. Education allows the movement up the society scale because it provides opportunities to have a successful life. Since my mom was helping her nieces and nephew, she was also helping her parents by building a bigger, safer and stable home for them to live in. The house was made out of cement, had tile floors and stable roof and

Many students entering college may discover that they are not prepared for college curriculum courses. These students enter college courses facing a major issue. They find that high school has not adequately prepared them for the difficulty of college level courses. These students lacked the sufficient basis in being well equipped for advanced careers and college entry. These students have suffered a great inequality prevalent throughout high schools since several high schools do not receive equivalent aid. The unequal funding in high schools prevents students from attaining the same education that other students in different areas may receive. Unequal school funding in secondary schools

I believe in parental choice in public education, but choice in and of itself is not enough. All parents - regardless of socio-economic status - must be able to access the school of their choice. They must have the financial capability to send their

Now the students are missing out on the curriculum the rest of the country is trying to reach because they need to have the skills to have a demanding job. Schools in a high-income society usually get even more than the curriculum. Private schools have just about everything. They have good materials, good educators, good students, etc. Students in private schools are taught to love learning. “In 90 minutes of observing the private-school class, there were zero interruptions, zero yawns, and zero cell phones”, (Godsey, 2015). Although when Godsey observed that there were zero interruptions in 90 minutes, he later went to a public-school and it ended up being a nearly the opposite observation. “It 's not completely clear how fluent he [the teacher] is in the subject matter, however, because he has been interrupted or distracted by 20 things in 20 minutes: a pencil being sharpened, a paper bag being crumpled and tossed…” (Godsey, 2015). Comparing the private-school to the public-school, the private-school had more opportunities and focus than the public-school, thus creating a better environment for students to learn and be successful. Schools are evidently unequal when comparing them based on the focus, curriculum, and money.

Thesis: Private school students are more likely to have a better viewpoint in learning, a firm stance in education, and will be more successful in colleges than of public school students.

Another difference among public and private schools is the curriculum. Public schools must follow the curriculum that is outlined by the state. The state outlines a curriculum for each subject at each grade level (Great Schools Staff, n.d.). The state also mandates the assessments for each grade level (Great Schools Staff, n.d.). The curriculums are similar among different states in the hope that if a students moves mid year, they will remain on track for their new school. Private schools have the ability to set their own curriculum. Private schools might advertise specialized curriculums in order to entice students (Great Schools Staff, n.d.). For example, private schools that are religiously affiliated will have religious based classes in addition to their basic curriculum. This is something that parents need to consider too. Also, private schools determine their own assessments and do not have to participate in standardized testing.

There are different types of education that a student may receive in today’s society. The choices are narrowed down into two main categories, public and private school. Many people in today’s society believe it’s better to send their children to private schools rather than public schools. To most parents deciding which school system will be better is based on curriculum, class size, and most of all cost. It’s not an easy choice for parents to decide, but many parents feel their child is worth receiving the best education offered.

As time has gone by, Americans have increasingly paid more attention to the schooling process, trying harder all the time to get the best education possible for their children. As a result, more parents are turning from the public school systems to the private schools. This happens for several reasons. First, students that graduate from private schools tend to be better prepared for college. Second, private schools open up many opportunities to succeed in the business world. Last, the private schools allow the parents and the student to decide which school they feel will give the student the best education possible. Overall, private schools offer a better education for high school students than do public schools.

The issue of whether private education is better than public has been debated for many years. Strong advocates of public education feel that children grow and progress better in a mixed environment. Although most private educational institutions do not harbor racial discrimination or discrimination against sexes, they do not have certain classifications that may not suit the masses. For example, a large number of private schools are religious based. Additionally, private school education is not paid for by the state, thus children who attend these facilities generally come from a financially stable background. The danger in this environment is that student