Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
All valid points. But, anybody notice what is missing? There is no mention of how to make classrooms in public, inner-city classrooms places of academic success. The criticisms of said public schools still loom large, of course. But, we have no solutions for them. We only have a way out for teachers and students wanting to work/study in a better environment. The crummy environments in the public schools live on. And so do the criticisms of those public schools from those working outside public education. It's pretty sad.
The question here was
"how do private schools attract better teachers and get better results?"
NOT-how can we make inner city public schools better.
My comments were not a criticism of public education. My comments are an acknowledgement of the reasons why private schools can obtain better results than public schools. Some of them have absolutely nothing to do with teacher pay, which was a topic elsewhere in this thread. My comments address conditions which exist and are not under the control of public schools.
IMO the problems in inner city schools cannot be fixed.
"how do private schools attract better teachers and get better results?"
NOT-how can we make inner city public schools better.
My comments were not a criticism of public education. My comments are an acknowledgement of the reasons why private schools can obtain better results than public schools. Some of them have absolutely nothing to do with teacher pay, which was a topic elsewhere in this thread. My comments address conditions which exist and are not under the control of public schools.
IMO the problems in inner city schools cannot be fixed.
As it is now, I agree.
The problems in inner-city schools of course have a huge impact on those schools' performance. Thus lowering the bar for private schools to clear. Private schools getting better results is a product of both their advantages and the disadvantages public schools deal with. I suppose I went a bit off-topic in bringing up the lack of solutions for those public schools. But their inferior results (test scores) are a product of all of the challenges they face which can not truly be controlled by teacher quality. Switch the staffs at Private School A with that of Public School B, and I think you'd find that very frequently the results would be as they are now.
I agree. Some of the problems in inner city schools have very little to do with teachers.
Teachers know this. Who else knows it? The media? Nope. Politicians? Nope. Wealthy people pushing money towards education reform/charter schools etc? Nope. None of the above have ever spent a day of their life in a public, inner-city classroom. Not as a teacher or as a student. (Photo-op visits don't count).
Teachers know this. Who else knows it? The media? Nope. Politicians? Nope. Wealthy people pushing money towards education reform/charter schools etc? Nope. None of the above have ever spent a day of their life in a public, inner-city classroom. Not as a teacher or as a student. (Photo-op visits don't count).
We get lots of those photo-op visits. Somehow, the agenda never seems to include the peeling asbestos and the black mold. They usually manage to replace the burned out light bulb in the teachers' restrooms, but the last time, they didn't even replace the broken pencil that is being used to replace the missing bolt on the restroom door. I don't even know if anyone else notices these things.
how do private schools attract better teachers and get better results?
They don't necessarily get better teachers. Private schools get better results because they get better students and parents. I have known more than a few teachers who couldn't hack it in the public schools who ended up teaching in a private school.
What is it that private schools are doing (besides the parents) that may contribute to success? Here are are a few ideas that I think would have a big impact:
-Smaller class sizes
-Eliminate behavior issues: Public schools are "public" and open to everyone by definition, but alternatives could be implemented to weed out the 10-15% of students that are only there to ruin it for everyone else.
What is it that private schools are doing (besides the parents) that may contribute to success? Here are are a few ideas that I think would have a big impact:
-Smaller class sizes
-Eliminate behavior issues: Public schools are "public" and open to everyone by definition, but alternatives could be implemented to weed out the 10-15% of students that are only there to ruin it for everyone else.
-De-emphasize standardized testing
No special ed, or if they do have them it is the mild, academically workable forms.
Missing the bottom 10-20%, so even if they teach to the bottom (which they don't have to) it is higher.
No special ed, or if they do have them it is the mild, academically workable forms.
Missing the bottom 10-20%, so even if they teach to the bottom (which they don't have to) it is higher.
I agree. If (and that's a big IF) we as a society really want public schools to "compete" with private, parochial, and charter schools, then public schools need to be given more flexibility in regards to special education and behavior problems.
I agree. If (and that's a big IF) we as a society really want public schools to "compete" with private, parochial, and charter schools, then public schools need to be given more flexibility in regards to special education and behavior problems.
I will admit that it was a big huge plus for me when my kids were in private school. If there was some jerk kid who absolutely would not behave, they were asked to leave. Simple and quick. I never worried about either of my kids having to deal with bullying issues.
On the other side of things, a close friend of mine had to counsel her son repeatedly to not take physical action when he was being bullied daily at public school (middle school). The bullies would kick his chair, take his backpack, steal his lunch, call him names, follow him around throwing spitwads or food at him, "accidentally" hit him in the head with a ball during PE, verbally harass him at every opportunity -- but since they never actually "hit" or physically attacked him, nothing was done. It went on for months. The school responded by "talking to" the bullies, and counseling my friends son to ignore it, and they did let him come to the counselor when he was feeling very angry. When my friend's son finally lost it, he threatened them with a plastic knife from the cafeteria and he was the one expelled.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
