Private versus public schools

Posted as a response to a NYT podcast and article.

The primary factor is not public versus private. Parents are the primary factor. My ex-wife was a teacher, and I saw the pattern four decades back. When parents care, their kids are more focused, and the teachers can better do their job. When the kids are unfocused, teachers cannot spend as much time teaching.

None of this has changed.

Growing up, I was a (very) bright kid in a somewhat-average public school. My schools were not terrible, but there are better. This does not make me from the start so much of an advocate for public schools.

Later, helping out my then-wife and listening to her co-workers, the primary pattern became clear. Teachers who got better salary in Los Angeles were happy to accept a lesser salary in south Orange County, as they were able to spend more of their time teaching, rather than trying to maintain order. Noted that better educated parents were more (intensely!) focused on their children. With more focused parents, children were better behaved, and teachers got all the support they needed.

Chose where to live to match this pattern. As an upper-middle class area (in south Orange County, California), parents are intensely interested in their children's education. Had parents from back-east who at first placed their kids in private school, then later moved their kids when they realized the public schools were excellent.

As example, a young teacher just-transferred asked for parent-volunteers for a field-trip. On the day, she had for help more(!!) adults than students. As she told me later, at her old school, she would be lucky to get one or two parents. At my local school, when asked, she got parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles ... when asked, she got more support than needed. She learned why other teachers specified the exact number of volunteers needed, as could expect the full count.

Good teachers love their job. Kids do well with good teachers.

My three kids attended excellent public schools, and now my (bright) grandson. Private schools are not better.

The problem to be solved is schools where the parents (and their kids) care less. Five decades back, one of my (more interesting) high school teachers noted that more-average kids did better when the brighter students were in the same mix. The brighter students did better when separated from the more-average.

That is an essential tension. Put differently, you are missing what a (not-average) high school teacher could have taught you, half a century back. :)