Kaschock
English 102
February 4, 2015
In the United States the two
main types of schooling in high school, middle school and lower school are
private and public schools. Having gone to a private, all girls’ school with a
uniform for my whole life (14 years) I do not know a lot about public education
but a lot about private education. Private Schools are known for their small
classes, high education as well as high costs. Where as public school is known
for their large classes, bigger schools and free tuition.
Ever since I was little I can
always recall me waking up, putting on my uniform and going to The Baldwin
School. I loved this place. It was a place I did not need to worry about
impressing anyone but instead I could be my true self while getting basically
the best education possible. My graduating class of 52 sisters were very close
to one another and everyone was friends. The schooling I went through prepared
me for college very well academically as well as socially speaking. All of my
teachers were very dedicated to their student’s success and what they were
teaching. They were genuinely interested in the well being of their students
and wanted them to succeed in every way possible. They were extremely skilled
in their fields of learning even though they did not need a teaching degree to
work at a private school. I had a great relationship with every one of my
teachers, my biggest class size was 16 girls and I believe having small classes
really allowed this to happen. Although I did not know any different, I would not change my
years at Baldwin for anything. I believe I had the most amazing experiences there
that I never would have gone through at any other place. I became an
independent, strong confident woman there and I could go on for hours talking about
my experience at The Baldwin School.
There are a couple different
types of private schools, college preparatory day schools, boarding schools,
military academies, special needs and art academies. I will be talking about
college preparatory schools. This type of private school does not just admit
anyone. According to an article Greatschools.org
by the GreatSchool Staff, “Private schools, by their very definition,
are selective. They are not obligated to accept every child, so getting
admitted may involve in-depth applications with multiple interviews, essays,
and testing.” Besides academics, Private schools admit students based on their
racial and religious beliefs. Compared to public school, private schools are
known for a great deal of things.
They are known to have smaller classes where the teachers give the
students great personal attention, a large amount of additional things to do
outside of attending classes (clubs and sports teams), a high tuition,
sometimes a uniform, sometimes single sex schools, and according to an article
in the New York Times, Private
Schools: Exceptional Education by Anonymous, “because of their low student-to-teacher ratios, private schools can focus on each student's specific needs, helping each
child reach his or her potential.”
Public Schools on the other hand do
admit anyone who lives in the area of the school district and, for free.
Teachers that teach in public schools do have to in fact be state certified and
go through state trainings to ensure they are informed about teaching
techniques and about their topic they will be teaching. Unlike private schools,
public schools do not cost any money to attend. According to an article Greatschools.org by the GreatSchool
Staff, Public schools are “often underfunded operations influenced by
political winds and shortfalls. Financed through federal, state, and local
taxes, public schools are part of a larger school system, which functions as a
part of the government and must follow the rules and regulations set by
politicians.” Grade sizes and class sizes in public schools are generally
bigger making it hard for students and teachers to build good relationships.
Not all public schools have means to help students that have special needs and
or learning disabilities so it may be hard for students who have these things
to flourish in this type of environment.
I organized an interview with one
of my roommates, Jessica and asked her questions about her experience attending
public school throughout all of lower, middle and high school. I first asked
her if it was her choice, her parents’ choice or all of their choices
to attend public school and why was this decision made? She responded and said,
“It was mine, my moms and my dad’s choice. I actually considered going to
private school for high school but the public schools in my area are very good academically
so I did not feel there was a reason to switch, pay money and have to make all
new friends.” I listened and then asked her how many people were in her grade
as well as her individual classes and what were the pros and cons of having a
large class? She responded and said, “ I had 270 people in my grade and there
were 24 to 30 people in my classes. The pros for having a large number of people
in my grade were I would always have people to be with and everyone lived near
one another because the people attending my school all had to live in the area.
The cons were I didn’t know everyone in my grade personally.” Next I wanted to
hear if her education in public school prepared her for college academically.
She responded and said, “Negatively, I took a lot of free periods in the
mornings so I never had to wake up early for classes and in college I do. I had
never written more than a four-page paper in high school and now I have to
write 7 to 8 page ones and it is very difficult.
Writing this paper made me
realize the differences and similarities between the two types of schooling. I
learned a lot from my interview as well as the research I did to prepare me. I
really enjoyed hearing about Jessica’s experience in public school because it
was so different than mine.
Work
Cited
Anonymous.
Private Schools: Exceptional Education. New York
Times Magazine Oct 09 2005: 74. ProQuest. 26 Jan. 2015.
Findings
in Economic Research Reported from Colgate University (The Effect of Private
High School Education on the College Trajectory).
VerticalNews.com Dec 31, 2014. Education Letter.
Patrick
J. Wolf. Comparing Public Schools to
Private. Education Next. July 1, 2014. Vol. 14 Issue 3, p52-54. 3p.
GreatSchools Staff. Private Versus Public. GreatSchools: Greatschools.org
1998-2015
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