Them Be Fightin' Words

OK, so I knew what I was posting would cause a few raised hackles.  And, I knew that when I posted it that a few of my friends would be replying, or calling, or hunting me down. 

Realizing that you may have a problem helps in preparing for the fall out. 

So, here is the highly controversial post I made on Facebook:

Why do we want our kids in private school? JT's teacher (who is in private school) summed it up nicely; she can teach above and beyond the standards required by the public schools. Where in public school, they teach the standards, nothing more, nothing less.

I then had to clarify,

And, to be perfectly clear, we love our public school teachers, who excel even with SOL constraints. I do wonder what more they could achieve if they were not held back by tests.

Yes, one of our children is in a private school this year.  It has always been the plan that our kids would attend the local, church associated, middle and high school; our oldest started a year earlier then planned, for a variety of reasons.  

And we are thrilled with our decision.  We have also been thrilled with the years we have had, and continue to spend, in public school.  However, I now have a parallel look at both systems, and it does make me ponder the differences.  

• Of course, that is not to say that, across the board, private is better than public.  Growing up, I went to public school, and looking at the few private schools in our area there really was no comparison to which was the better education.

• Naturally, when a teacher has a class of no more then a baker's dozen, it is easy to be creative and push all kids to, and beyond, their abilities. 

• It is probably safe to say that when a parent is writing a monthly tuition check that parent is a little more invested in their child's education.  That is not to say that public school parents are not, but the ratio (just speculation) is higher in private schools. 

There are a variety of reasons why, if we could financially, I would place all our children in the private school.  None of the reasons have to do with the teachers, because they too take my children beyond the standards, but there are so many more issues holding them back.

We all have differing opinions on schools, curriculum, and tests.  To date, my experience has only been positive when it comes to our teachers, and I would like to see them excel at what they do best.  I, personally, feel that the present system holds back so many talented teachers, in turn they also hold back our students.