Privatize all schools?

Do you think we should eliminate all public education and simply privatize everything? Seems to work in many other fields.

[OklaCity_75]

I would like to see private schools with public oversight.

Going all private would be a bad idea.

Some private companies would more likely try to run the school like a business. Focusing on more on a healty bottom line over the education of students.

While others would try to spend every last dime given to them. You would see schools spending money on items they really did not need. Such as indoor practice facilites, luxury school buses and plasma tv's in classrooms. New computers just because a new operating system was on the market.

In my opinion if schools do not back away from teaching political beliefs and focus more on Reading Writing and Math. More parents are going to opt to attend private schools.

If you have not noticed more and more churches are starting private schools.

[Midtowner]

At first blush, it seems like a fantastic idea. If you could come up with some merit based system where the school was paid based on test scores, we could see some real progress. On the other hand, I think such merit based systems would be highly detrimental to kids with learning disabilities, the mentally handicapped, etc.

I wonder in such a system where a 99 percentile IQ like mine with learning disabilities would fit in? Or worse yet, a < 25 percentile IQ? I wonder if I'd have been given the same opportunities in such a system that I was afforded under the current one? It seems very unlikely that a school driven by profit alone would seek out a kid with any kind of learning differences.

Of course, that has been the argument of the public school system against such reform.

They ignore an obvious alternative -- to grant special incentives to enroll children with learning disabilities, substandard IQ's, etc. and reward them on a different level. The No Child Left Behind model has failed to account for such kids, and therefore, has provided a disincentive for schools to have such students.

Given a system that can fairly and adequately address the needs of all of its students, I think a private system could be a great thing.

[OklaCity_75]

One thing I think private schools would do is group kids according to there academic ability?

Would that be a good or bad thing?

A private company would also reduce the student to teacher ratio and lengthen the school day.

If you stretched the school day from 8-4 for high school students, 8:30-4:30 for Jr. high and 9-5 for elementary. You would never have to send kids home with homework.

I would love to see the state of Oklahoma establish a tax or create a fund that focuses on adding more classrooms and hiring more teachers.

[dirtrider73068]

Originally Posted by Patrick

Do you think we should eliminate all public education and simply privatize everything? Seems to work in many other fields.

No unless we raise taxes to pay for the finacial aid everybody else can pay so I can afford for my kids to go to a private school. Let somebody else pay in taxes fo rmy kids to attend I woudl be all for it. Other wise my kids will go and can go to public school like I did. Private schools to me are no different than public both get same education, only difference is private you have to pay for it public doesn't really cost a thing and state pays for all the other stuff. There are plenty of privae schools for those that can afford for there kids to go to choose to put there kids in. I never have liked private schools, guess because I was always in public school, our family was one of the ones that started at the bottom of the ladder and had to work really hard to try and get to the top while other were lucky and were already at the top and got everything.

[Midtowner]

dirt,

You do not get the same education at private and public schools. The test results will bear that out with some exceptions. Public schools simply aren't on par with private schools unless you start to look at charter schools as public schools.

Bishop McGuinness and Edmond North prepared me for college far better than John Marshall or Southeastern possibly could have. Of course, I give credit to myself, but not having to be aware of whether or not I was wearing gang colors was a huge plus for me I think.

Again, that's not hyperbole, the schools' respective test scores will bear that out.