double aught said:
I'm not speaking of you specifically, but I feel this mentality is one of the biggest problems with public schools.
It's mainly these stay at home moms with too much time on their hands. They start talking and once the idea of private school gets mentioned, they all feel like they need to abandon the local school. But in fact, if people would just commit to their neighborhood school, send their kids there, get involved and supportive, it would be just fine.
But maybe that's just my experience.
This is naivete at best and wishful thinking at worst. Sorry, but it is.
First, even IF stuff you're alluding to were a problem at public schools, it isn't a big problem and it certainly isn't "one of the biggest" ones. With all the public school failures, it is hard to understand why you would think it is unreasonable to not only seek out and discuss other options but to act on it. The fact is, public schools aren't and haven't been very good since at least when I was going there. Even in pockets of areas where they function (or at least have for many students) -- think Plano, etc. in the '90s and before and the Southlakes, Highland Parks, and Coppells (just to name a few DFW area "superior" districts) in the 2000s and later -- they aren't as effective as advocates for them would like to think. For example, I know for a fact that one of the districts I mentioned here has both severe grade inflation (ala Harvard) AND essentially a no-fail policy. I know that because I had a client who taught in that district and wanted to know how to handle unwarranted negative reviews from their principal due to refusals to change grades. I was able to gather a great deal of evidence in the matter that showed the kids were graded accurately and fairly and the teacher wasn't going to get bullied by parents that were pissed that their kid either didn't get an A (they got Bs and Cs) or they failed. The client, an Aggie, by the way, ended up leaving the district so it didn't matter. I think as a result of that experience, he pretty much just gave up at his new school and gave out the grades desired. And while good students in these and other districts find ways to succeed, in public schools the way is in spite of, rather than because of, the school.
Second, you're flat out wrong when you allege that support seems to fix everything. The only "neighborhood" schools in most areas of Texas are elementary schools in cities with populations between roughly 150K and 300K. Below that, and they aren't neighborhood; above that and you have situations like FWISD and DISD where, even if they're close by creating that atmosphere, open enrollment brings in kids from all over. Parents put their kids in one school for a year or two then move on, or move the younger one somewhere else when the older one advances to Jr. high. There's virtually no such thing, except MAYBE in Frisco (if there are other communities like that, let me know), of a neighborhood Jr. High or HS. Even there, things aren't like they're drawn up to be. Frisco and other places are having to close multiple elementary schools due to declining enrollment (in large part because too many "neighborhood" schools were built way back when) and there is a virtual war between parents and the school boards over which schools should close. Hint: it BETTER not be MY school or I'm gonna have a piece of your ass. At least, that's what parents say privately -- sometimes publicly. Better not be my school because the school is better educationally for my kids? Nope. Its in the area where I bought my home so my kids could walk there. Besides, I don't have time to take them to the one they'd go to so the board better figure it out. I don't give a damn if the district does lose tax money; that's not my problem.
You'd be a fool if you think quality of education is on the forefront of the minds of much of anyone related to school district decisions these day, be it parents, administrators, or boards. That's the rhetoric. The reality is whatever they need to do to stay in office, in their job, or keep their comfortable setting in tact.
I'm not saying private school is ALWAYS the answer, but public school almost never is. If someone has no other choice, then I suggest investing heavily -- as best you can -- in your child's education AS IF they're being home schooled. In other words, they go to public school but they spend a significant amount of time working with the parent as if the parent was home with them all day.
My mom taught for 31 years, and my wife will complete her 36th year in a couple of months -- all in public schools. I went to public schools for everything but a year at Baylor. I know where all the bodies are buried and trust me: you don't want to see that graveyard. Nothing, including private school is perfect, but whatever the question is, public school isn't the answer.
(And, by the way, I can continue this for what amounts to 10 Microsoft Word length pages with examples if you want, so don't think what I hit here is all I've got. It BARELY scratches the surface. Otherwise, sorry for the length/rant).
