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RetroGamer87
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30 Aug 2014, 2:10 am

Which is better?
Has anyone been in both?
What are the long term outcomes?


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zer0netgain
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30 Aug 2014, 9:47 am

In the USA, public schools are the pits. The agenda makes them focus more on passing tests than learning the material.

Still, private schools are considerably more expensive...although they often give much better results.

The key, always, is the quality and commitment of the teacher.

Parenting is also very important. Learning should not end at the end of the school day. You should be on top of what your kids are being taught, filling in what the school isn't providing and correcting the bad information they are teaching. Your kids will only excel if you fill them with a love of learning.

Where bullying is involved, both can have this problem, but public schools are notorious for not having the ability to discipline kids anymore, so you can expect it to be more of a problem in public schools.



RetroGamer87
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30 Aug 2014, 10:34 am

Just as I thought. It may be a similar situation here in Australia. My only consolation for having gone to a public school is that I went to a decade ago and not nowadays. I've spoken to some students and the way they describe the curriculum is even worse than it was for me (though one area they've improved significantly is in helping them plan their future, something that didn't really exist when I was in school).

So is it only for rich kids in America because here in Australia it seems to be fairly common, making up a significant fraction of the number of schools. Even lower middle class families send their kids there. They're probably better academically, have less bullying or at least have a broader choice of subjects but I wonder if it would be worth it if you have to put up with all that religion.

I agree that education within the home is important but I was raised by a single mother who was painfully average. After she taught me to read, that was all she knew. She taught me to love books but that was of little use in school, they wanted me to learn their stuff and any other books were on my own time. They didn't like the idea of independent study. I think I learned more in the school library than I did in class.


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zer0netgain
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31 Aug 2014, 9:08 am

RetroGamer87 wrote:
So is it only for rich kids in America because here in Australia it seems to be fairly common, making up a significant fraction of the number of schools. Even lower middle class families send their kids there. They're probably better academically, have less bullying or at least have a broader choice of subjects but I wonder if it would be worth it if you have to put up with all that religion.


I'd say not.

The problem is that it's not cheap to run a private school. Even if you strip out waste whenever you can, quality teachers cost money. It's not just a paycheck, it's benefits. The public school system is better set up with that...perhaps to excess. Since they are funded based on population and everyone (with or without kids) pay into it, they have more money coming in. A private school can only rely on alumni support and the tuition they charge. Politically, there is no real movement make the law so that a parent gets the value of their tax revenue for public schools in a voucher they can apply to the private school of their choice, so a parent is forced to pay more than double for their kid's education if they want to go private. Some countries do it differently because of the number of private schools when it's a voucher system from the start and private schools get public funding based on the number enrolled each semester.

In the USA, home schooling has caught on in popularity because of the cost (much cheaper than private school) and pre-produced curriculum that enables a parent of just high-school education to convey the material to their kids...normally resulting in better results than what many public schools churn out.



RetroGamer87
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31 Aug 2014, 9:24 am

zer0netgain wrote:
Even if you strip out waste whenever you can, quality teachers cost money.

In that case I'll asume most of my teachers worked for free.

zer0netgain wrote:
RetroGamer87 wrote:
I wonder if it would be worth it if you have to put up with all that religion.

I'd say not.

Maybe you're right. Maybe I idolized private schools without having experienced one. Maybe I made the most common mistake in the world. Blaming my own failures on external factors.

zer0netgain wrote:
Some countries do it differently because of the number of private schools when it's a voucher system from the start and private schools get public funding based on the number enrolled each semester.

I'm pretty sure I live in such a country. That might explain why private schools are so common here. Years ago I even heard some controversy on the news when it was revealed that the government funding for private schools was 2.7 times higher per student and with tuition fees on top of that. Here it only costs parents a few thousand a year. I'm not sure if they pay because they think it's better academically or because they don't want their kids exposed to the evils of a secular education.
[quote="zer0netgain"In the USA, home schooling has caught on in popularity because of the cost (much cheaper than private school) and pre-produced curriculum that enables a parent of just high-school education to convey the material to their kids...normally resulting in better results than what many public schools churn out.[/quote]
While I don't like the idea of parents doing this just to avoid their kids learning about evolution I think it would otherwise be great if they could supplement the government mandated curriculum. But are these kids adequately socialized?


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leniorose
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19 Sep 2014, 10:03 pm

I go to a charter school, which is sort of between the two. It's technically a public school, but government officials pay for a lot of things out of there own pockets, you have to apply to get in, they're highly selective and there's a lot of competition. It shuttles directly into a local university, where the office of admissions has promised to give out scholarships to graduates with a 2.75 GPA or higher. We take college courses and high school courses at the same time, and about 2 years worth of advanced classes are condensed to one year. Sophomore year, you take 2 college courses, one each semester, alongside classes most Juniors would take. Junior year- the one I'm in now- you take more college than high school, and most high school stuff is at the senior level in regular high schools. The inaugural class is now seniors, and are taking all college courses.

Interestingly, they require every student takes a personality test (after being accepted, not before) and the results are kept in the counselor's office, and passed around to teachers.