Are Public Schools Hopeless

Are Our Public Schools Without Hope?

In 2003, elementary and secondary enrollment in public schools reached an estimated 48 million and is projected to increase to an all-time high of 49.7 million in 2013 according to the The National Center for Education Statistics report “The Condition of Education 2004.”

Based upon the Census 2000, the percentage of non-Hispanic Whites completing high school was 82 percent, compared to 80 percent of the Asian population, 72 percent of the Black population, 72 percent of the Hawaiian Native or Other Pacific Islander population, and 71 percent of the American Indian and Alaska Native population.

There is a raging debate in this country over the use of school vouchers to give public school students access to private schools. There are also debates on academic performance, integration, busing, and discipline in our public school systems. Regardless of one’s stance on these issues, the future of the public school system in America must be addressed. Some argue the system is obsolete, a system of the past attempting meet requirements for which it is ill equipped. Others argue that it is a broken system that can be repaired. Some believe system is purely hopeless. Are public schools without hope?

Arguments For:

Private schools are far more costly to the taxpayer and there is little information available to the public to show that they actually do a better job than public schools. This is especially true given all the new private programs that have sprung up in response to the availability of public monies for private schooling. [br]
In 2003, elementary and secondary enrollment in public schools reached an estimated 48 million and is projected to increase to an all-time high of 49.7 million in 2013. The public education system is graduating more than two-thirds of its students. Although certainly not perfect, it is doing a good job with many students. With adequate resources, the public school system can improve its performance in all areas of concern.
Private schools have long been the competition of public schools—even before the advent of school vouchers. Many of these schools offered scholarships to economically disadvantaged scholarly and athletically talented students in an attempt to bring diversity to their campuses. It is only fair to concede that this competition from private schools facilitates improvement of public schools as some research suggests.
There is little argument that there are leadership, disciplinary, teacher expectation and academic performance problems in many of our public schools. All of these findings are addressable with improved academic management and instructional techniques. Unfortunately, most programs that are intended to improve the quality of public education do not fully address these areas for measurement. Instead they tend to focus on student achievement, which is akin to putting the cart before the horse. The accountability systems such as those mandated in the No Child Left Behind Act are a first step to identifying the problems. Joined with the broad implementation of innovative measures such as those supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation the public school system can rival any private institution.

Arguments Against:

You get what you pay for--private schools have always done a better job.
Public schools do educate the majority of U.S. students. They do produce the majority of graduates in the U.S. However, the majority of these graduates do not go on to complete a four-year degree. Furthermore, with the exception of the Asian American population, attainment of a bachelor’s degree for minority students is dismal in comparison to non-Hispanic White students. Among the Asian population 44 percent had a bachelor’s degree, compared with 27 percent of the non-Hispanic White population, 14 percent of the Black population, 13 percent of Hawaiian Natives and Other Pacific Islanders, 11 percent of American Indians and Alaska Natives, and 10 percent of the Hispanic population.
The school choice nature of private schools encourages continual improvement amongst private schools in contrast to the stagnant tendency of a public school system that has no competition for its students.
According to The National Center for Education Statistics report “The Condition of Education 2004”, in 1999-2000 high school students in high-minority schools and high-poverty schools were more often taught English, science, and mathematics by teachers who have neither a major nor certification in the subject they teach than their peers in low-minority and low-poverty schools. Private elementary and secondary school principals were more likely than their public school counterparts to report a high degree of influence over establishing curriculum, setting disciplinary policies, and setting performance standards for students. The report also stated that larger schools and schools located in a central city or urban fringe were more likely to report an emphasis on helping students with their high school academic achievement rather than preparation for post secondary schooling. These are but a few of the findings of the report. Public schools have evolved into institutions lacking discipline, accepting low expectations and harboring a high level of uninspired leadership. Parents want their child in a learning situation that educates in a challenging, nurturing, safe and values-based setting. They want their child in an environment fostering academic excellence and high achievement. Most public schools do not have the resources to offer these elements.

Although there are many challenges for our public schools, the system is not hopeless. The worst evil against public schools today is the subtle practice of allowing judges, legislatures and school systems to use at-risk factors such as poverty, lack of home discipline, single-parenthood and other factors as the scapegoats for not having essential teacher academic skills, classroom management skills, and innovative methodologies for teaching those who begin their formal education less prepared. These issues become more so egregious when there is a clear apportionment of good and bad practices along the lines of race.

In any case, if we allow these excuses to prevail, then our goal of successful public school systems as a norm will continue to elude us.

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