Choices in Tertiary Education

There are a lot of different types of schools that parents can choose to have their children attend today. It is important to understand what each of these types of schools are before choosing to attend one because it will definitely affect your future.

Public Schools

Public schools are those that are directly responsible to the elected officials because they are funded by taxpayers. There is usually a local school board that is responsible for overseeing these schools. The school board is usually elected or appointed by public voting. They are responsible for allocating money and deciding what curriculum will be used for teaching students.

Charter Schools

Charter schools also receive public funding but don't have to abide by all of the rules, regulations and statutes that apply to public schools. Students can choose whether or not they wish to attend these schools but since a lot of students do prefer them, the enrollment is usually based upon a lottery system. This is because most charter schools use a curriculum that specializes in a particular field (i.e. art, music, math). Nobody is charged tuition for attending them though.

Most charter schools are founded by either a teacher, parent or activist who feels that the public schools are too restrictive. On the other hand, on-profit groups and universities are usually the ones to establish a state-authorized charter school. There are also some charter schools that are managed by corporations even though the school itself is still non-profit.

Private Schools

Private schools, which are also known as independent schools, are not government ran. Therefore, they are able to choose their students and then charge them tuition. Students can get a scholarship so that it is more affordable for them. These schools range from pre-school through college and the annual cost of a private school primary education can reach up to $45,000 per year depending upon the school.

Boarding Schools

Boarding schools are where at least some of the students live on the premises with their fellow students and some of their teachers. This is why students are called "boarders" ad the word boarding is interchangeable with the term "bed and board." Some of these schools may also have day students that actually live off campus with their families. Usually all of the students will go home during the holidays and sometimes on the weekend.

Home schooling

Home schooling (aka home education, home learning) is when a child is educated at home. Usually the parents are in charge of this form of education but sometimes tutors are also used. This is actually one of the oldest forms of education in that before compulsory school attendance laws went into existence, most children were educated within their family units. Today homeschooling is a legal alternative to either public or private schooling. Parents have numerous reasons why they are motivated to homeschool their children, including better academic test results, poor public school environment, religious reasons, improved character or moral development, the expense of private education, objections to what is taught in their local public school and parenting style.