The Pros And Cons Of Privatizing Public Schools

When imagining a well-rounded school, one might think of a school filled with discussion based English classes, interactive Math classes, exciting labs, and rich History classes; one may also think of an endless list of extracurricular activities and athletic teams. Sadly, many public schools across the country do not have these opportunities. The Diane Ravitch book: Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools, focuses upon Ravitch’s opinion on this important issue. Since the No Child Left Behind Act was passed in 2001, schools have focused on math and reading scores; because of this, schools have disregarded and cut back on other subjects that they are not being tested on such as

When local property taxes were the primary source of school funding, districts were financially stable and were able to allocate funds for appropriate spendings. With the limitations set on property taxes, school budgets became dependent on the state’s fluctuating economy and tax collections. Fortunately, in 1988, Proposition 98 was passed, which set a minimum base funding for public schools. This proposition guaranteed funding that would grow each year with the changing economy along with student enrollment. This funding, though managed by the state was a combination of state General Fund and local property tax revenues.

It was with wild fanfare that the state’s Republican legislature and Republican Governor enacted their reforms for the state’s public school system. Among the panaceas was charter schools, a ‘90s education fad that gives individual parents the right to send their children to state-approved public charter schools at public expense. Politicians reasoned that less-bureaucratic charter schools would teach students better than traditional public schools because charter schools wouldn’t be subject to the same mandates that the state had heaped upon public schools. Furthermore, traditional schools would be forced to compete with charter schools as they lured thousands

Nevertheless, these options have become controversial establishments for a number of reasons. Charter schools in particular have been criticized because they are run by independent private organizations with less regulation than a traditional public schools and therefore, extraordinary educational opportunities are just as common as extreme cases of operational negligence. An annual Phi Delta Kappa poll on public schools reported that the nation was split on whether or not charter schools should have the same required standards as local public schools. Communities with satisfactory public schools typically said yes, and those with struggling public schools typically said no. In Atlanta, reports of educational inadequacy, lack of diversity, and financial mismanagement spurred the city’s NAACP

Education is the most powerful tool one can arm themselves with. Education provides people with the power to innovate, invent, and change the world. Recognized on a global basis as the ultimate key to unlocking one’s potential, education is one of, if not the most important aspect of a human being’s life. Despite this recognition of education as a necessary aspect of positive advancement, there has lately been a high amount of controversy surrounding the education system in the United States. A large amount of this controversy surrounds the views of the new secretary of education, Betsy DeVos, who strongly believes in the concept of school-choice vouchers, which are essentially subsidies given directly to parents to

According to the author, giving public funds to private groups leads to a series of issues. The first issue is that changes are being made in order to seem like the charter school's are meeting the standards and students are meeting the expected goals. This affects the children who are not receiving the proper support in school, and or and not achieving the expected learning goals established for their grade level. Students are falling behind, but the charter schools are finding ways to otherwise in order to continue to receive money. Lastly, no support is provided to the students with special needs in these charter schools. The students with disability have no chance to succeed as none of their

The corporate school reform which has originated through political movement mainly has methods in which are taken from the political approaches. The fact that most of the school board members consists of those who professions in business instead of education is not favorable. The Failure of Corporate School Reform on page one states that the corporate school reformers try to “imagine public schools as private businesses, districts as markets, students as consumers, and knowledge as product.” If I am able to purchase my knowledge, that will be great. Yet, I am not able to do that, and I feel like the reformers are only looking at me as one of the pawns on the chessboard; the reformers are only thinking of us as money.

Taxes are not made for private school, so why are vouchers making it seem that way? Kahlenburg says that “voucher opponents are right to worry that vouchers will ‘drain… resources from the public sector’” (“The Voucher Wars”), because they are taking that money and putting it towards private schools. While more money has been spent on vouchers in private schools, public schools have been facing cuts and class sizes are getting bigger. Even though tax payers pay for both public and private schools, there is a political limit on how much is payed for by the tax payers. This means that no one school will get more than the other. Parents that pay tuition are supported by tax-payers while students in the voucher system do not have to pay the tuition. This leads to an increase in government funding in private schools. In some public schools, cuts are so severe that electives such as music, art, and physical education are cut from some schools (Miner). Core subjects have increased in class size and, in some cases, there are more students that there are desks in the classroom (Miner). Private schools have also taken money from public schools being able to have smaller classes more challenging curriculum, and better training for teachers. In Indianapolis, it is questioned if Holcomb will continue to take money from Indiana public schools and support “the nation’s largest and least-restrictive voucher program”

The privatization of schools allows for students to be left behind by the educational system. These children are usually from low income communities which further degrades their chances from obtaining a higher education. These schools have reverted to practices that could be seen as discriminatory thus promoting the racial segregation of students. In “How messed up is California’s charter school sector? You won’t believe how much.”, Valerie Strauss found that “more than 20 percent of all California charter schools have enrollment policies that violate state and federal law”. Charter schools have since lost their credibility to educate America 's youth but instead take the public 's taxes for their own personal benefit. Charters were funded 1992 which was quickly seen as a new and innovative alternative to public education. They were deemed better than public

Social, cultural, and political variables impact the lives of our children, including their development. One explores the socio-political reality of the Charter School Act of 1998 to our society. There are unwavering viewpoints in favor and staunch positions against the Act. The Charter School Act of 1998 created an antagonistic war of words concerning the direction of public education. Those in favor of the Act purport its favorable addition to public school education. Conversely, opponents argue that charter schools will ultimately privatize public education. Nonetheless, this paper seeks to provide historical background

After reading this article I am not a fan of charter schools, I think they are run by selfish people who only worry about their income. The schools have a different way of teaching. The charter schools are forcing public schools out of low income areas where they are truly needed because families can not afford private schools.

Large-scale studies, moreover, show that the higher the percentage of students attending private and charter schools within states, the higher the average achievement of all students. Studies of countries show the same pattern; the greater the percentage of students attending private schools, the higher the country’s achievement. As shown in comparisons of public and private provision of services in many industries, private competition works well for consumers, allows successful contenders to thrive, and causes failing organizations to change or close.

Education is an issue that touches everyone’s lives in one way or another. Whether you are a parent, student, teacher, taxpayer, or employee, the effects of education on society can be seen everyday. For this reason, public schools are a top concern among political leaders. Over the past twenty-five years, confidence in the nation’s public school system has dramatically declined. While the public for the most part seems to support their school district, criticism is not lacking. Recent years especially have shown dissipating support. It appears that the prevailing view is that public education, as a whole, is in bad condition and is in need of a renewed effort to fix it. Private schools seem to fare

The public's preference for the public schools would seem to be related to its positive assessment of those schools. Although respondents continued to desire improvement, they are generally pleased with their schools. Forty-nine percent assigned the public schools in the community a grade of A or B.

A good education is an essential part of a child’s development. Today, parents have a choice in their child’s education and can evaluate both public and private schools. Although both public and private schools provide education and opportunities for students, parents should evaluate the differences and choose the option that best suits their child and families’ needs. In this paper, I will compare and contrast five major areas that relate to public and private schools including class size, cost, curriculum, services, and teachers.