1 in 5 Public School Teachers who don't believe in Public schools...

[Danno 1,228]

Public schools no place for teachers’ kids

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2004/sep/22/20040922-122847-5968r/

More than 25 percent of public school teachers in Washington and Baltimore send their children to private schools, a new study reports.

Nationwide, public school teachers are almost twice as likely as other parents to choose private schools for their own children, the study by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute found. More than 1 in 5 public school teachers said their children attend private schools.

In Washington (28 percent), Baltimore (35 percent) and 16 other major cities, the figure is more than 1 in 4. In some cities, nearly half of the children of public school teachers have abandoned public schools.

In Philadelphia, 44 percent of the teachers put their children in private schools; in Cincinnati, 41 percent; Chicago, 39 percent; Rochester, N.Y., 38 percent. The same trends showed up in the San Francisco-Oakland area, where 34 percent of public school teachers chose private schools for their children; 33 percent in New York City and New Jersey suburbs; and 29 percent in Milwaukee and New Orleans.

Michael Pons, spokesman for the National Education Association, the 2.7-million-member public school union, declined a request for comment on the study’s findings. The American Federation of Teachers also declined to comment.

Public school teachers told the Fordham Institute’s surveyors that private and religious schools impose greater discipline, achieve higher academic achievement and offer overall a better atmosphere.

“Across the states, 12.2 percent of all families — urban, rural and suburban — send their children to private schools,” says the report, based on 2000 census data.

“Public education in many of our large cities is broken,” the surveyors conclude. “The fix? Choice, in part, to be sure.”

Public school teachers in Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Chicago, Rochester, N.Y., and Baltimore registered the most dissatisfaction with the schools in which they teach.

“These results do not surprise most practicing teachers to whom we speak,” say report authors Denis P. Doyle, founder of a school improvement company, SchoolNet Inc.; Brian Diepold, an economics graduate student at American University; and David A. DeSchryver, editor of the Doyle Report, an online education policy and technology journal.

“Teachers, it is reasonable to assume, care about education, are reasonably expert about it and possess quite a lot of information about the schools in which they teach. We can assume that no one knows the condition and quality of public schools better than teachers who work in them every day.”

“They know from personal experience that many of their colleagues make such a choice [for private vs. public schools], and do so for good and sufficient reasons.”

The report says the school choice movement has begun competitively forcing public school improvement, particularly in cities like Milwaukee, called “a hotbed of school reform,” where 29.4 percent of public school teachers sent their children to private schools, the study finds.

“Narrow the search to teachers making less than $42,000 and the percentage enrolling their children in private schools drops to 10 percent. Because Milwaukee is a hotbed of school reform, it’s possible that teachers making less than $42,000 are beginning to favor the public school system.”

“If so, it might be evidence that choice is having the intended effect of spurring improvements in public education there. Or perhaps the emergence of [public school] charters has provided another free option to lower-income teachers who might otherwise choose private schooling.”

[Zero Sum 305]

Interesting! You get what you pay for, just like you sometimes go with what you can afford.

[mawilson 2,133]

Are private schools necessarily better than public? Do you always get your money's worth?

Discuss.

[vancedan 5]

As a public school teacher who has worked in urban schools, perhaps another 20% do not, but I do believe in it. I plan on sending my kids to my district, Dallas ISD, and in Dallas, we have some of the best schools in the nation and some of the worst. That goes for both private and public. One does not necessarily mean another. However, for myself, I shall continue to support them as I soon shall go into my fifth year of teaching. Public schools are a public service. To support them is part of our civic duty. That is why the Scandinavians invest in them so heavily (as do the Canadians, Dutch, and Germans). They treat the huge subsidy given to their education system as an investment in the national and local economies, the environment, health, crime reduction, and social mobility. To some American observers, these subsidies represent unforgivably huge losses and unforgivable government spending. Most other people, however, don't see it in this way. For them, schools are not a business but a service that the state provides for its citizens at collective expense. Any given school or district may not always be the best, yet by long-term investment in teachers and students, they do improve, as seen in other countries. Yet even then, their existence continues to offer indirect benefits to the nation. To treat the majority of our schools like a firm, best run be entrepreneurs and private organisations whose shareholders expect a cash return on their investment, is to misunderstand their very nature.

[Danno 1,228]

Are private schools necessarily better than public? Do you always get your money's worth?

Discuss.

Any such comparison must be made in the light of; cost.

Public schools often get better results at a fraction of the cost.

[Amby 490]

I think charter schools are best

eta: btw I think they are the best because the schools are held accountable for the success/achievement of students

Edited February 21, 2011 by Amby

[mawilson 2,133]

Public schools often get better results at a fraction of the cost.

I suspect that parents who are willing to pay private school tuition

have obviously made their kids' education a priority and therefore

tend to be more involved in the outcome.

[Amby 490]

I suspect that parents who are willing to pay private school tuition

have obviously made their kids' education a priority and therefore

tend to be more involved in the outcome.

I think the choice to send kids to private school depends a lot on where you live. Where I grew up most parents who could afford private school still sent their kids to public school because it was just as good as the private schools, if not better.

[Danno 1,228]

I suspect that parents who are willing to pay private school tuition

have obviously made their kids' education a priority and therefore

tend to be more involved in the outcome.

That stands to logic and the Public schools are taxed with problems (some of their own making) ...private schools are not burdened with.

IT could be, the one silver lining this poor economy has delivered may be, the beginning of the end of the Union blockade on progress in the Public school system.

[lostinblue 1,989]

When my step son came from China we looked at both public and a christian school.Just trying to get him entered into the public school system was a big mess. An example was what shots were needed to enter. He had one set in china. We were told that we may need to wait for 9 months to have him enter school so he had the "whole series".Private school said start monday and we can work with you .Public school half of the girls look like they are hookers and I understand about 1/3 are into drugs and booze on a regular basis.(from a student that attends there)Private school a dress code is in place and there does not seem to be a drug problem. It cost over 7 grand and wife and I work 3 jobs to put him there. The step son was in a boarding school in china so private school was a better fit. Stepson said he knows of no one using weed ect.while in china and students study over 12 hours per day between class and homework. Private school gets him better attention due to its small size and personal esl classes.

[Ban Hammer 12,829]

I think the choice to send kids to private school depends a lot on where you live. Where I grew up most parents who could afford private school still sent their kids to public school because it was just as good as the private schools, if not better.

i went to a private catholic school for 1st grade - i think i wore out half a dozen rulers.

[Zero Sum 305]

I suspect that parents who are willing to pay private school tuition

have obviously made their kids' education a priority and therefore

tend to be more involved in the outcome.

I would suspect the same as well. This is why rooting out a single cause for any given failures of public education is pretty dumb. Some times its lack of parental involvement. Other times its lack of adequate staff development. And other times its lack of facilities.

i went to a private catholic school for 1st grade - i think i wore out half a dozen rulers.

I got kicked out of catechism in my 4th grade year. Not even involved in the troublemaking, but the priest took it upon himself to punish everyone for a few bad apples.

[Amby 490]

Did all VJ peeps get kicked out of catholic school/catechism? Were a bad bunch!

[Ban Hammer 12,829]

Did all VJ peeps get kicked out of catholic school/catechism? Were a bad bunch!

[Zero Sum 305]

The internets draws all kinds of crazies to its ranks.