yet, private school class size is smaller and private school on average tend to perform better than public school. With the advantage economy of scale for public school, we should be able to afford to pay more for public school and still spend the same per student and have similar class size. Yet, we’re not.[/quote]
Easy. Private schools have better outcomes because they get to choose their students. My private school tested everyone before admitting them. They had to have high I.Q.s to get in. Behavior problems lasted about one week, and then they disappeared. Add to this the fact that the parents are willing to pay extra for their child’s education, which tends to mean that the parents are generally wealthier (tied to education and genetic intelligence), and means that they prioritize education for their children, and you’ll get superior results.
You’ll get very few transient/homeless students, poor children, children of drug addicts, children of gang members, disabled children, severely emotionally disturbed children, etc. in a private school. The public school system is **mandated** to take care of these children. In some neighborhoods, these children comprise the majority of the student population.
Just an anecdote, but in the low-SES school where I worked, over 90% of the student population were immigrants, or children of immigrants, most of whom had limited English language skills. Many of their parents were very poor immigrants who often didn’t have an education beyond the elementary level. While the majority of the families were poor, but very decent people, we also had our contingent of gang members who had their kids come to school with gang hairstyles (certain shavings, etc. that denoted the gang they belonged to)…in kindergarten. You could start the year with a particular group of 20 kids, and by the end of the year only have five of those original students, because these families tend to move often. We had the children who lived in the transient motel with their parents, too. Do you honestly think these kids are going to perform as well as the students in the private schools with no behavioral problems and involved parents?
While test scores are lovely, they don’t often show us the “why” behind them. It’s VERY easy to make private schools look better than public schools, but that doesn’t mean it’s because the students there are getting a “better education,” and it doesn’t mean that the teachers are superior. Oftentimes, they are inferior, but they have a MUCH easier job.
It’s very easy to have good scores when all of your students have average to above-average intelligence, involved parents, and no behavioral issues.
