With the recent appointment of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, there has been a lot of uncertainty and confusion about what the future of education in America will look like. For the past decade, public and private schools have been the two most popular options, with public schools generally having a higher attendance. So when DeVos was nominated and explicitly stated her preference for private education, a lot of concerns were raised. While DeVos is biased since she attended private school throughout her whole life, the question arises of whether education beyond public school actually has a benefit on children. First, what exactly are the options outside public and private schools? One that is often misunderstood are charter schools. Wait what? Charter schools are described as independently run schools that are granted greater flexibility in their operations, so that they are able to return with a higher performance. On the surface, this seems great. Especially since charter schools are often advertised as “private school education with a public school price”. But, is this really true?
As someone who has attended both a charter and a public school throughout high school, I can confidently say that there are many differences–these two school systems are not on an equal playing field. Since charter schools are given more flexibility when it comes to rules and regulations, ironically enough, it often leads to a lack of accountability in the administration which ultimately harms the student. These schools are often funded by individuals and corporations, and with profit always comes ulterior motives. Should education even be profit based in the first place? Wouldn’t the individual behind the school want to end with a big check to themselves instead of giving it back to the students?
As I’ve seen this happen before my own eyes, a well intentioned charter school can easily become corrupt. Since these schools are much smaller, they often lack the opportunities that larger public schools have, such as clubs and advanced classes. This causes two students with the same potential to end high school with two very different transcripts and types of qualifications, simply because one had the opportunities that the other, equally capable student did not. On top of this, there is a huge lack of accountability for the teachers and so the quality of education suffers compared to those of private or public schools.
While the smaller environment of charter schools can be more productive to some students, to this I argue that a private school is worth the money instead. Because, at least there you are guaranteed a quality education.
Because of the ambiguity of what exactly Charter schools offer, many misconceptions mislead parents into putting their children through the system. In my personal experience, I attended a charter school for three years but had to flee and transfer to a public school my senior year because its accreditation was threatened. Eventually losing it completely, this was a huge offense that raises many concerns–for any type of school. While public school has many of its own drawbacks, from my six months of attendance, I can say that I am grateful that I was able to experience education outside the Charter world. I was exposed to many more opportunities, and could very easily tell the difference in the quality of education.
The differences between public and private schools are more social based, and so students with different personalities would have different preferences, but at the very least both types of schools maintain their responsibility to the students. While I enjoyed my social experience at the Charter school, I couldn’t say that I felt my and my peers’ education at the were a priority. And after much research and asking around, I have learned that this tends to be a trend with Charter schools, which shows that so many other students are being robbed of their own education–and don’t even know it. And all throughout this, the charter schools continue to profit and benefit. So I say this to you, take this as a precaution. When choosing schools, obviously money and social preferences are obstacles that cannot be overcome, but it is crucial you thoroughly explore all your options. All school systems have their advantages and disadvantages, but this doesn’t mean the students should have to suffer at the profit of a big corporation. End profit based privatization of education, and put the priorities of our future students first.
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