Public schools face a decline in attendance with the surge of private schools. Today’s government is a proponent of voucher programs. These programs take taxpayer money to enroll students into public schools. So, there are many reasons parents remove students from public schools.
Public Schools’ Lack of Students
According to a study conducted by the Associated Press, there are many reasons students enroll in private schools.
• There is a lack of preparation for today’s workforce. Also, parents do not believe the students are prepared for college.
• Next, parents do not believe all teachers in public education are highly qualified in their teaching ability. They also want teachers to be easily fired for poor performance and support a balance approach for reviewing teacher ability.
• There is a belief that private schools give students more individual attention in the classroom.
• In addition, private schools require parental involvement.
• Private schools are not accountable to the public.
• A balanced program of academics, sports, and additional activities is provided.
This is a few of the reasons parents choose private schools. Additionally, religion and diversity is a reason. However, many other parents favor public education.
Public School Support
Somehow, the belief exists that public schools are failing. This is not true. In fact, they are among the best in the world. The reason is public schools educate everyone, not a select few. Public schools teach all levels of math, expose students to problem based learning, analyze complex themes by award winning authors, perform music and dance in international competitions and graduate students into the world’s best colleges. Also, they hire into the most competitive jobs. And, some even become politicians!
Public schools are not broken or failing. The problem lies with the poverty level. Private schools aren’t better. They simply portray themselves as such. They choose their students. Private schools and public schools have different rules to follow. All in all, public schools do as well as private and charter schools. And, possibly better. They are open to all children no matter the ability or disability, color, race, creed or economic class.