Why do so many people think public schools are not good enough for their children?

Question

In a rural area like I live in, there is no such thing as a private school.

Besides, I went to public school and turned out...never mind.

Answer 1

I suppose it depends on where you live, but some people are firm in their beliefs that all public schools are bad. It's not true, of course. Both of my sons went to public schools. Both were honor students. The oldest has a master's degree in microbiology. The youngest is now in college, double majoring in business management and culinary arts. I think it has to do more with a parent's involvement in the child's education, rather than what school they attend.

Answer 2

'cause it's crap.
In the past perhaps 10 years ago and more, kids respected teachers, they actually had parents that were not afraid to parent, they understood that there were consequences to their actions and they attended a school system equipped to handle their needs.
Since then.... Political correctness has things all twisted up, society has grown, technology has advanced, the workforce expects more, respect and discipline is a thing of the past and the public school curriculum is the same if not worse than it was 10 years ago. This is not a swipe towards the teachers, they are doing an impossible task teaching 30 plus kids in a class using outdated materials.
So now us parents that have lost faith in the public system send our kids to private school where they use the latest technology, class sizes are (at least in my kids school 10:1) smaller and the students learn at a faster pace. In grade 1 my kids did the same math as gr 4 in the public system. When they graduate from private school they will be able to write their own ticket....that is why we send our kids to private school !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 3

My parents sent me to private schools all my life. I even attend a private college. Their reasoning is that in private schools, the teachers give you more attention, focuses on your needs, and gives you a better education because you are paying them too. There are also smaller class sizes. (From K-8, our class was about 30 people. High school, the entire grade consisted of about 150 students. College class sizes--15-20 student undergrad course).The parents are also very involved in the school (helping out, donating supplies, etc) and are always trying to make it better. True not all public schools are bad. But for example, my sister wanted to attend a public high school. It was such a shock, she was exposed to drugs, violence, gangs, etc etc. She wanted out immediately. So when my turn came, I as forbidden to go to public school and hence I still haven't really had any confrontation with drugs or violence. From my experience, I think private schools have more of a controlled and protective environment, so students don't get into as much trouble.

Answer 4

If you're talking about the US...there are some good public schools, but many of them are just simply not doing a good enough job.
Is it a matter of underfunding? I don't know. But I do know they could do more with the resources they do have. US public schools are among the costliest in the world (on a per-capita basis), but their students still do not measure up well against the rest of the world. That is part of the reason why the US' manufacturing base is moving overseas - not enough trained, qualified employees.
Everyone should have the option of being able to spend the money they pay in taxes for public schools, on private schools for their children.

Answer 5

I went to public school and I turned out well, I think. Now it comes time for me to send my kids to public school and I think about how my cousins (15 years younger than me) were nice, well mannered girls all summer and then the school year came and they would display bad habits. I remember the NARCs that were in my school and the time the kid got in trouble because he thought it would be cool to bring his dad's gun to school and show his friends (and the crazy scare that caused). I think about Columbine High and the Menengitis scare I heard about one year at the local high school. I think about the teachers that I had and what an unbelievably hard job they had with all those kids for such a short time and the inadequate salary they get for it - not to mention the demands that are put on them by society to teach more to more kids.

For my kids, there will be home schooling. We can use online curriculums and there are lots of families doing it these days, so groups are easy to find (in my area, anyway). This way I can insure that there is 1 person who oversees their entire education (up close) and has no other children to teach. I can let these 2 kids learn at their own pace and as their interests drive them, instead of following a "standard curriculum". I know they are in a safe environment and they will learn a lot more about the world by being in it, instead of groomed for a cublicle, as I think kids are in many Public schools these days.

Peace!

PS - oh no! All the more important for the smart people to be allowed to get individualized education so that they can truly develop their unique talents.

Answer 6

We can divided the answer into two categories: The real quality and the perception.

In terms of real quality, since public schools are funded by government, and managed by public servants, the red tape and burocracy may bring to certain system inefficiency, lack of quality control, level drop in teaching, no clear guidelines and etc problems.

About perception, to fulfill the basic education requirement, public schools usually recruit students equally without considering your background and social status. Some parents will think that their kids will be badly influenced by their friends or classmates. Besides that, some parents will think that FREE means no standard. They prefer to pay and in return they want the education quality to be guaranteed.

All these problems will lead to a public perception that the public schools are usually not good, or not good enough compared to private schools.

Answer 7

Because they can afford private schools. Besides how many kids have been shot in private school? Now how many in public schools? They are smaller. Less student to teacher ratios. Most private schools teach religion and have chapel services as part of the curriculum. They are more focused on college prep courses than pblic schools. The thing I noticed is that a good percentage of people that I'm acquainted with that attended private schools ie. Christian and Catholic have all chosen some sort of pagan religion to follow, and/or had/have drug and alcohol problems. In reality it doesn't depend on the schools. It depends on the students.

Answer 8

It depends on the student. If you are smart it does not matter where you go to school you will get into a good college. If your kid is not so bright you can window dress them by sending them to a private school to help them get into a better college than they would normally because of the private school's reputation. This is not the case with all students of course. I live in NJ and my public high school was better than most of the private schools around, but people who normally went to private schools were from very small towns who would have to go to regional high school.


Additional Information
For those who believe drug use does not occur at a private school are only fooling themselves. I lived in a pretty wealthy town growing up and my public high school had its drug problems, so did our friends from Red Bank Catholic who did them with us.

Answer 9

Because in cities - public schools perform lower on standardized tests - than do private schools. the key is that private schools are not forced to admit all people - so they weed out the poor students.

Depends on the area - I live in a city with excellent public schools.

Answer 10

If you assist your child well through his early years setting up good homework rules and being involved is really key!....he/she should be okay. Most of the kids who dont get a good education from public schools are those kids who's parents dont speak english AND dont get involved particularly if the child is weak in some subjects. My son has a friend with that combo....he gets minimal homework, maybe one page! It's tragic! That combination seems to me to be the kids who our public school system hopes to become future dishwashers. It's a crime!