Public school vs. private school. What are your thoughts?

Question

Grades K-12

Answer 1

It depends where you live. There are some terrific public schools. However, overall, private schools tend to motivate the students better than public schools. I think that this is because parents tend to be more involved (they're paying to send their children there) and there seems to be more a united focus at a private school. At the public school, they're always afraid of offending some group.

Answer 2

To me, people who put their children in private schools have given up on the public schools system. I guess in some areas, that is just the way it is. Obviously, in public schools a child will meet and be exposed to a variety of children of races and cultural backgrounds, but I guess that could also be true of private (depending on the locale).

I went to public schools and did (do) my children. I also work in the public school system.

Sometimes a parent feels that by putting a child into a private school, the discipline problems will be less. Sometimes that's true, but not always.

Obviously, there's an expense to consider, but if you have the money and research the private school well, then you have some info to go by. Talk to other parents whose kids are in private/public school.

You could always start with one, but then change at some point if you want to do that. Neither system is perfect...what is???

Answer 3

There are pros and cons to both, and it depends on which are most important to you. As someone who is debating the same, here is what I have decided:

Private schools tend to be void of some of the bureaucratic "red tape" when handling a problem, but private does not always mean higher quality. Some private schools have much lower standards as far as education and qualifications for teachers, and many are not much more than a holding tank for students being punished by their parents for their public school mistakes. On top of that, there is as much potential for corruption in private schools as public, often with a church acting as the political forum for favoritism.

Public schools can make it virtually impossible for you to have a problem addressed, depending on what state you are in and how cooperative your teachers and administrators are. You have no control over the curriculum or disciplinary policy, and never know what values are being passed on to your child by the teachers. Minorities seem to be catered to for fear of lawsuits, at the expense of others, and there is often only the illusion of a "chain of command".

I personally have opted for homeschooling with as much extracurricular involvement as possible as well as membership in a homeschooling association.

Hope this helps!

Answer 4

It's the student, not the school. a good student will thrive anywhere, a non-motivated student won't be motivated in a private school.

In our experience, private schools don't have certification requirements for teachers--the worst we saw were in private schools.

Smaller is better than bigger (schools of 900 or less have better "connectedness" to the students) so that kids who might get lost in the crowd can find a place to thrive.

Answer 5

It depends on the quality of the public schools in your area. If they suck, find a private school.

Answer 6

Private schools usually are better.

But, if you can find a really good public school in a safe neighborhood, your kids can go there also.

Answer 7

CHILDREN ARE NO SMARTER THAT ATTEND PRIVATE.
ALL HAVE THE AVERAGE TO EXCEL IN LIFE.
GO TO PUBLIC SCHOOL AND SAVE THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS. HOME SCHOOLING SUCKS ! YOUR CHILD
GOES THROUGH HELL WITH ALL OF HIS FRIENDS THAT
ATTEND NORMAL SCHOOL. HE IS AN ISLAND OF LONELY !
I'VE SEEN THE DAMAGE DONE !