Public Vs Public Education: Private Vs. Public

1194 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Public school vs private school debate

Meshack Mtango
Professor Kimokoti
Final Paper
April 27, 2014

“Private vs. Public”

Education is fundamental in today’s society. It has become a sought after medium for attaining success. Many careers have set specific educational requirements for a person to even be considered for employment. The education that one receives can be achieved through different types of institutes. Many parents face the conundrum of sending their children to the right institution that will aid in their child’s future success. The choices seem to be in abundance but many people find themselves limited to a short list of obtainable institutions. The parents have a great deal of things that need to be thought through. This may require factors that have to be considered. Some of the factors include the following: curriculum, class sizes, cost and school’s quality but these are some questions that stand out. Does the type of school really help performance? Are there factors that hinder one type of institution from thriving? These decisions are crucial and, for the most part, will determine the type of institution the child will receive his or hers knowledge from.

Education is defined as the “discipline that is concerned with methods of teaching and learning in school or school-like environments as opposed to various non-formal and informal means of socialization.”(Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008). If one really looks at education, he or she will realize how broad it actually is. Education extends beyond the notion that it is merely for knowledge alone. It is imperative that one view education in an analytical perspective. Mr. Smith suggests that “we must also ensure that students develop critical thinking skills.” Critical thinking is a definite must ...

... middle of paper ...

...school rather than public schools.”(School Vouchers, 2013) These scholarships provide an opportunity for low-income or disabled students to have a private alternative for his or hers education. The opportunity scholarships allow those who can’t afford a private education to experience being in a higher performing school but is this a guarantee? One might argue that public schools are governed by regulations that “inhibit performance.”(Christopher and Weitzel, 2008) It is true that public schools are governed by the federal regulations but they still offer a competitive edge against their private school counterparts. Vouchers have not been received so joyously by all. The controversy of using vouchers to “redirect public funds to private organization, including religiously affiliated private schools.” This controversy shows a depiction of linking church and state.

Show More
Related

  • Critical Thinking? You Need Knowledge By Diane Ravitch: Article Analysis

    473 Words  | 1 Pages

    The article, “Critical Thinking? You Need Knowledge” by Diane Ravitch, discusses how in the past people have been deprived from the thinking process and abstract thinking skills. Students need to be given more retainable knowledge by their teachers to improve their critical thinking skills. (Ravitch).

    Read More

  • The Death And Life Of The Great American School System By Diane Ravitch

    1088 Words  | 3 Pages

    She realized that choice and accountability were not the answer, but that curriculum and instruction were more viable solutions to America’s educational dilemma. Ravitch suggests that to abandon public schools is to abandon the institution that supports our concepts of democracy and citizenship and to the promise of American life (Ravitch, 2011, p. 12-14). The idea of school choice is rooted in Milton Friedman’s essay concerning the government’s role in education. Friedman asserted that society should support and contribute to the maximum freedom of the individual or the family. He maintained that the government should provide vouchers to help support parents financially on their children’s education, which parents could use at the school of their choosing; so long as the school met set standards. Therefore, this creation of choice would stimulate competition, which Friedman believed would increase the development and improvement of nonpublic schools, as well as, create a variety of school options (Ravitch, 2011, p. 115). As a result of the choice movement, the public received three versions of school choice: voucher schools, private schools, and charter schools. Each of these schools receives public funding, but do not operate as traditional public schools, and are not managed by a government agency (Ravitch, 2011, p. 121). Charter schools became the most popular choice of this new

    Read More

  • An Argument in Opposition of Education Vouchers

    1794 Words  | 4 Pages

    Paramount of issues at hand is that of the constitutionality of voucher programs. The Establishment Clause prohibits a state religion and guarantees all the freedom to practice whatever religion they should desire. The Supreme Court, along with many lower courts, has held the Establishment Clause to mean also that neither federal, state, or local governments may support a religion, including financially. Voucher programs represent direct state financial support to private, often parochial schools. In fact, even the checks in Cleveland's program, while addressed to the parents, are currently mailed to the school first.

    Read More

  • Just Say No to Vouchers and School Choice

    663 Words  | 2 Pages

    The idea that vouchers give parents a choice of schools for their children is simply incorrect.  The only people who have any real choice in the matter are the private...

    Read More

  • No Tax Dollars for Religious Education

    668 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lately we have seen proposals for vouchers.  These vouchers are public money given to low income family so they may send their kids to private schools.  Most of the schools who use this program are religious.  In the Cleveland voucher program we see there were 3,761 children are enrolled and 96 percent of those children are attending religious schools.  Also 82 percent of the participating schools were sectarian.  This voucher program was challenged in the 6th circuit court with the Simmons-Harris v. Zelman case.  It was ruled the Cleveland voucher program “clearly has the impermissible effect on promoting sectarian schools”.

    Read More

  • The Effectiveness of the Voucher System

    2376 Words  | 5 Pages

    When looking at a brief overview of voucher systems it is important to realize that No Child Left Behind is the policy that really sparked the implementation of school accountability and therefore the idea of school choice. Politicians wanted to improve America’s education system so they began mandating standardized tests at public schools and designating letter “grades” to overall school performance (Garnet, 2005). The implementation of school voucher systems became a way to scare failing schools into improving because it allowed parents the opportunity to transfer their children to private schools, which would mean that the public schools would lose students and more importantly funding (West, 2005). Although this seems like a great idea it is statistically flawed in many aspects including the reach of students tha...

    Read More

  • Vouchers Are Not the Solution for Improving Public Schools

    1700 Words  | 4 Pages

    Vouchers redirect money that would have been spent on educating a child in the public school system to a private school of the parent’s choosing. Voucher use is based on two factors, student eligibility and school eligibility. Those students who would be eligible for vouchers are among those in low-income families. School eligibility widely varies state by state. In some states school eligibility is restricted only to nonsectarian private schools, where elsewhere any private school is eligible (Resnick, 1998). Those who support vouchers offer three reasons for their position. One reason being that most public schools are failing, secondly vouchers help the children who use them, and thirdly vouchers create competition that motivates public schools to improve (Resnick, 1998). However, opponents argue that funding should be put toward improving the current public school system for the masses instead of allowing a better education to an elite few. Research is largely opposed to vouchers. Vouchers imprudently use public funds to back religious education, degrade public education, and support elitism.

    Read More

  • The Cleveland School Voucher Program Case

    1371 Words  | 3 Pages

    State and local governments finding a means to the address the opposing viewpoints on vouchers would have negated much of the turmoil that was stirred in Cleveland. Bibliography Kennedy School of Government Case Program, “The Cleveland School Voucher Program: A. Question of Choice” 1999, (accessed March 31, 2014). Florian, C. Eugene and Eric C. Twombly, “Vouchers,” in Salamon, ed., Tools of Government. 2002, ch. 103, p. 14.

    Read More

  • School Vouchers The Wrong Choice

    1484 Words  | 3 Pages

    Roberts, Nanette M. and Glenn, Charles L. “School Vouchers: Two Views.” Sojourners (January - February 1998): 22-25.

    Read More

  • School Vouchers Aren’t the Solution

    1003 Words  | 3 Pages

    The overriding rationale for education vouchers is the simple fact that private schools are better than public schools and public schools are a disaster, creating an illusion. There is a wide assumption that private schools somehow increase educational equity, with the interpretation that all low-income children and minorities can take advantage of private education. What is not known about education vouchers is the way it uses private school as a scapegoat in order to avoid the real issues surrounding the problems of public schools. Private school choices only serve as an excuse because they only offer admission to a limited portion of low-income and minorities. The seats are limited, “all you are doing is making tiny adjustments in the allocation of educational opportunities for a very small number of children and still condemning a large number of children to poorly funded, inadequate schools” (Hammond 10). The histories of education vouchers go back to the 1776, when Adam Smith proposed that government give money to parents in order to diversify and up the competition in the classroom. Smith also concluded that because parents are the consumers, they should have the right to choose their children education. In the late eighteen century, Thomas Pain took Smiths concept to the United Sates, “the poor should be given special aid and parents should be required to purchase education for their children”. In 1859, John Stuart Mill contradicted Pain’s argument by imposing that government should require a minimum education for every child, but parents should have the option to seek education, how and wherever they wanted. By the 1800s there was a great influx of immigrants to the United States and public schools had to be readily ...

    Read More

  • Education Reform

    1561 Words  | 4 Pages

    Education reform in the United States has recently come under scrutiny after many recent failed proposals. President George W. Bush implemented one of the most popular choices of education reform with his “No Child Left Behind” system. However, that policy reform in the past five years has faded to nothing more than a mistake. This mistake has haunted the education systems in America, but it is not the only reform proposal to shake up the school systems across the States. One new proposal that has caught the eye of some current state politicians is the idea of school choice. School choice is giving the option to parents to take their children to different schools, which is different from assigning children to schools based on the location of their houses. Does giving the parents of children an option to choose what school their child goes to create a spirit of competition? That is partly the goal with the school choice reform policy proposal along with many other facets that can completely revitalize the education system in the United States. The stipulations of this proposal involve a variety of suggestions to help strengthen the core of our education system.

    Read More

  • School Vouchers

    861 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are divided opinions of which it is constitutional for government (federal) to give money to private schools, many of which are religious private schools. According to the NEA, “About 85 percent of private schools are religious. Vouchers tend to be a means of circumventing the Constitutional prohibitions against subsidizing religious practice and instruction” [NEA]. The parent of children who may receive vouchers viewpoint is the use of government funded school vouchers as an acceptable means of funding a child’s education. Reason, the family pays taxes and it should be allowed to have that money pay for their child’s education. But the question arises what about those taxpayers that do not have children, or children are no longer in public school. Aren’t they paying taxes also? So it is easy to say that there are more people against the school voucher

    Read More

  • Private Schools vs. Public Schools

    1164 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many people in today’s society believe it’s wise to send their children to private schools. In making the decision on whether to put children in public or private schools, they look to four main factors: curriculum, class size, the graduation rate, and cost. When people have to pay for something, their first thought is, “Will I be getting what I’m paying for?” With a private school education, the amount you have to pay is usually well worth it. Public schools offer diversity. Here students can find people who are just like them and can associate better. Wherever you live, you have to send your child to the closest school. There’s no choice on what public school you can send your child to, whereas for private schools you can pick to send your child there. It’s not an easy choice for parents to decide, but many factors point toward a guarantee that a good education would be achieved, which is most important.

    Read More

  • The Relationship Between Critical Thinking and Student Sucess

    1759 Words  | 4 Pages

    In conclusion, the educational process should not be simple and repetitive it must include analysis tools to allow for various new interpretations and judgements. A student who is taught to think critically will act accordingly as one of the best abilities which will be created for them to foresee the potential effects of their actions. By having students think critically, they are able to formulate the right questions, evaluate judgements and to formulate their own interpretations based on evidence. Critical thinking in the university environment has a positive impact on grades, retention, future careers and ultimately leads to student empowerment for the future.

    Read More

  • Dilemma of Public Financing in Private Education

    305 Words  | 1 Pages

    Certain groups support parents' rights to send their children to private or religious schools but oppose the use of public funds to do so. The main reason for this opposition is because public funding of private or religious education transfers precious tax dollars from public schools, which are free and open to all children, accountable to parents and taxpayers alike, and essential to our democracy, to private and religious schools. Private and religious schools, in turn, charge for their services, select their students on the basis of religious, academic, family or personal characteristics, and are accountable only to their boards and clients.

    Read More

More about Public Vs Public Education: Private Vs. Public

Open Document