What's Right with Public Education?

The laundry list of things wrong with public education is indeed long, and I could easily spend another two or three pages talking about them. I have been guilty of heaping criticism, deserved as it may be. I have also been inundated with articles touting alternatives (home schooling, private school, etc.) and those are fine if that's your choice as to what works for you and yours. But in this piece, perhaps we need to stop and gain some perspective. Let us explore how public school gets it right.

Guaranteed Access. Every child in America is guaranteed access to a free public education regardless of socio-economic status, gender, race, religion, desire, family connections, mental or physical handicap, shoe size, pickle preference (sweet or sour) or whether or not they like Neil Diamond. Few private schools anywhere can provide that. Few public school systems in the world can offer that. In Zambia, where the average person makes $50 a month, you have to pay $30 a month to go to school. We can haggle about the quality of said education, but it is guaranteed nonetheless.

Co- and Extra-curricular activities. The average private school cannot possibly match the plethora of co- and extra-curricular activities that the average public school can. Where I grew up, none of the private schools offered JROTC, International Baccalaureate programs, Vocational/Technical training, Model UN, AP classes. Heck, there's even a public school near my home that has a rodeo team! I'm not saying there aren't private schools out there that offer these things, but on the average, public schools have a clear advantage.

Special Programs. If a child has any sort of special needs (including special needs for gifted children) few if any private schools in America can match what the average public school can offer access to. This is not my opinion, but the opinion of the headmaster of a fairly large and successful private school I once interviewed at.

In pointing out these things, I am in no way trying to disparage private schools, parochial schools, or even home schooling. As I said previously, if those things work for you and yours, then have at them. But as a public school teacher, I would be remiss if all I did was curse the darkness, as opposed to lighting a candle. My colleagues and I do the best we can with the tools we are given, which is all you can really ask from anyone. With all of the griping about regulations and the stupidity of legislation that we do, we truly love what we do and who we do it for.