What are we to do with our schools?

By Robert Rupp

I have had a desire since 2007 to become teacher. During one of my classes that is needed to become a teacher, a question was raised by one of teachers would anyone like to teach at private schools? The question was discussed more and we eventually came to the question is public school a better place for our kids in preparing them for the future or is private school a better place for kids to go? So I have been able to go and find an answer to this question and it raises a lot of other question and issues I had not considered before.

Two economics professors from the University of Oregon, David N Figlio and Joe A Stone wrote an article that tells that private schools are a better learning environments for our kids because the funding for these schools allows much smaller classrooms and more one on one attention. They also mention that private religious schools are better than regular private because they also help provide a more morale and clean environment for kids to learn.

: http://irp.wisc.edu/publications/dps/pdfs/dp114197.pdf

James Coleman, Thomas Hoffer, and Sally Kilgore work together at the University of Chicago and in 1982 published an article that seemed to be a mixed article on whether or not private is better than public. Instead they seemed to list the pros and cons of both types of schools and it seemed that both were very informative and that both school can be a force for good rather than enemies in a competition.

http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/2112288?uid=3739928&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21101367785277

Tori Telling Watt of Texas State University published an article in 2003 that tells that it may seem like that on the surface, kids will do better in private schools and in small schools because of the size of the classroom but what is not being considered is the suicide rate and the depression rate that is much higher in private and small schools than in large public schools.

http://www.npr.natcom.asanet.org/images/members/docs/pdf/featured/watt.pdf

Luis Benveniste, Martin Carnoy, and Richard Rithstein published an article in 2003 that argues not so much as to which is better private or public but takes a neutral stance on the issue and instead tries to propose a better school system altogether so as to better our education as a nation.

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=dVjS5R8ShfYC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=%22which+is+better+private+school&ots=bGh7MKLYks&sig=pSKN3-im8BFWr6SKEKs7dI9sCmA#v=onepage&q=%22which%20is%20better%20private%20school&f=false

Richard Arum published an article in the American Sociological Review that because of the increase of private schools beginning in the 1980’s, the government has allowed more funding to public schools thus allowing them to compete with private schools in the classroom setting and schools that they can offer.

http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/2096405?uid=3739928&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21101367837207

John E Chubb from the Brookings Institution and Terry M Moe of Stanford University published an article in 1988 that new evidence has come out since the article was put together and that it suggests that private schools are not as good they once were because the numbers only tell half of the story.

http://www.politicalscience.uncc.edu/godwink/PPOL8687/WK3%20Jan%2025%20Education%20Reforms/Chubb%20and%20Moe%20Politics%20Markets%20and%20the%20Organization%20of%20Schoo.pdf

Joe Sonstelie wrote an article and had it published 1982 that tells us the cost of schools and its comparisons has always been biased towards private schools over public schools in that they are better funded and use the money better than public but if you were to take away the bias then new truths may be revealed.

: http://www.gonzalo.depeco.econo.unlp.edu.ar/bspub/sonstelie82.pdf