Private School Is Not Superior To Public School 

Many people complain about having to go to public school, but public school is a very valid and helpful way to learn the education needed to succeed later in life. Despite Private school quite often being viewed as a better option for students than Public school, across the globe, the majority of people have gotten their education from a public school system. Although, for a broad range of ages, private school is a wonderful option when it comes to obtaining a substantial education, it is not necessarily better than public school when it comes to giving students opportunities for extracurricular activities, forming strong relationships between students and teachers, and the teaching of academics.

In three ways, public schools are suitable compared to private schools when it comes to providing extracurricular opportunities. First, many private school systems have a limited amount of extracurricular options compared to public school, which can be a disadvantage, because there are not as many opportunities for students. An article published by The Oakland Press describes the pros and cons of these two school systems explains, “Through taxpayer funding, public schools may be able to bring in more resources and offer a greater array of classes” (Pros and Cons of Public and Private Schools). Public schools have a wide variety of extracurricular groups and clubs which give students the option to choose specifically what they personally want to participate in and dedicate their time to being a part of. Second, private schools are generally smaller, and so there are fewer students to participate in these extracurricular activities. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), “roughly 10% of U.S. students (about 5 million) attend private schools compared to 50 million public elementary and secondary school students”, (The NCES Fast Facts Tool). Public schools have a larger student population which provides plenty of people for these afterschool programs to thrive and represent their school and community well. Third, many private school students live in non-local areas and so public school students have an advantage when it comes to connecting with their community and creating a bond between their school and surrounding community. This bond produces support for extracurricular activities from the community. According to the article published by The Oakland Press, “children who attend local schools may feel more in touch with the community and take pride in partaking in the town or city’s traditions”, (Pros and Cons of Public and Private Schools). These students take pride in their town or city’s traditions, because of the stronger connection they have with their community while growing a good reputation. This reputation is partly built off of extracurricular performance, which the community supports by attending games, competitions, or performances, and through showing spirit by representing their public school. Public schools’ extracurricular activities thrive compared to private schools’, because of their variety of different groups, large amount of participation from the student population, and support from their surrounding communities.

For several reasons, the relationships made between students and teachers in public schools are just as strong and important as ones made in private schools. One reason this is true, is that providing classes of different sizes creates healthy relationships between teachers and students. The same article mentioned previously, published by the Oakland Press, explains, “With a more varied curriculum and greater propensity to offer more after-school activities than smaller schools, public schools can be a great draw” (Pros and Cons of Public and Private Schools). There are still opportunities to connect with other students and teachers through extracurricular activities, clubs, classes, and school and community events instead of in small classes. Another reason is that private schools often only teach a specific number of grade levels. Public schools are always connected through independent school districts so different schools feed into each other. In a report published by the NCES, it is included that “Private school enrollment in prekindergarten through grade 12 includes schools that offer kindergarten or higher grades” (The NCES Fast Facts Tool). Most private schools include preschool through eighth or twelfth grade. Public school systems are connected by different schools with different grade levels all under the same district. This is part of the reason why students often create friendships that last throughout a long period of their school careers. In addition, unlike some private schools, local Public schools do not have religious influence in their teaching. According to the NCES, private schools are grouped into these categories: “Catholic, other religious, and nonsectarian (not religiously affiliated)...conservative Christian schools, schools that are affiliated with other denominations, and religious schools that are not affiliated with any specific denomination” (School Choice in the United States: 2019). Many private schools have a religious influence. Having freedom from the involvement of religious influence can help students feel less judgment for their distinct religious beliefs, and free from pressure from other classmates to uphold certain religious standards.

Like private schools, public schools are successful in teaching proper academics to students or producing adequate academic results, for multiple reasons. First Researchers from the University of Virginia have reviewed data from over a thousand students, and found no evidence that students who attended private school benefited more academically from it than students who attended public school (Strauss). Kate Barrington, the writer of an article explaining a study about unfair academic system preference explains, “They [researchers from the University of Virginia] also make it clear that the assumption that public schools are inferior to private schools is wrong”. Barrington explains how it is unfair that private schools are considered better because many public school students are just as intelligent as private school students. Second, When school test results are compared, some are better than others, but the two school systems, as a whole, produce the similar levels of results. The same article, written by Barrginton, explains, “The fact of the matter is that some schools are simply better than others, but the results of this new study suggest that the factors once thought to play the largest role in determining the quality of public versus private education may not be so important.” Some individual schools excel more than others, but a school’s value is determined by more than test results. Third and lastly, the same article describes how researchers studied and took into account students’ attitudes, social adjustment, motivation, and risky behaviors that are connected to private schooling. In addition, these researchers used information from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development’s Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. The results of this research show that while some private schools outperform many public schools, this difference in academics is, as described in the article, “eliminated completely when you control for family income and parents’ level of educational achievement”, (Barrington). They concluded that the factors which determined a student’s success are connected to more than the type of education provided to the student. Evidence was lacking that private schools were more successful in helping students succeed than public schools.

In reading the information above, you might argue that Private schools have smaller classes which help give individual attention to students so that they can excel to the best of their ability. This is often true, but a small student to teacher ratio can lead to favoritism of specific students by teachers. In another sense, you might argue that private schools must be considered better because people pay so much money to attend them, that those people deserve extra special education or treatment. While private schools usually have excellent ways of teaching and treating students, the fact that a school is more expensive to attend, does not mean it is a better school. Public schools do not have an upfront tuition fee, but they still have many included fees to provide the best treatment and support possible for students and teachers.

When deciding which schools to attend, It is important to remember public schools are also viable options when compared with private schools. If people would realize that both forms of education produce amazing people equipped for success with skills for life, then there may not be as many stereotypes or biases involved with these separate school systems. Public school is just as good of an option as private school. Each has their own pros and cons, and both forms of education are wonderful for different reasons.