Private Vs. Public Schools 

The question I pose this week is wether students receive a better education from private schools or public schools? Most everyone would guess that private schools are more efficient; more money to buy books, supplies, and to keep the school up to date. Private schools often advertise better sports teams, clubs, extracurricular activities and the opportunity to be accepted into more elite colleges. Private schools often use the method of uniforms. The use of uniform is to make sure each student is viewed as equals and no one has nicer clothes than anyone else. Also this is a cleaner, more uniform look. But is the bonus of extra money and better supplies really affecting the children's education?

At first glance public schools are thought to have poor quality books, supplies, and buildings.  Most people believe public schools to have lower budget and therefore less qualified teachers than private schools. But after doing research I found that these stereotypes we all know to be true, in actuality they are not. In the article Private vs. Public schools, I found some intriguing evidence according to the CEP;
"When the report's authors compared students of similar socioeconomic status at private, public and parochial high schools, they found that:

• Achievement scores on reading, math, science and history were the same;
• Students were equally likely to attend college whether they had graduated from a public or private school;
• Young adults at age 26 were equally likely to report being satisfied with their jobs whether they had graduated from a public or private school;
• Young adults at age 26 were equally likely to engage in civic activity whether they had graduated from a public or private school."

 Reading this made me wonder if this evidence was true, but as I began to do more research, the NY Times concluded this for me."United States Education Department released a controversial and long-awaited report comparing public and private schools in terms of student achievement as measured on the federal math and reading tests known as the National Assessment of Educational Progress. As with previous studies, this one debunked the widely held belief that public schools were inferior to their private and religious counterparts."(http://www.nytimes.com)

This quote, as well as this article, proved to me that there was no difference between private and public schools.

Having gone to both public and private schools I discovered first hand that I did not like parochial schools, wearing uniform, or having to travel to go to school. I too, concluded that I felt just as comfortable and educated in public schools as I did in private schools. I felt as though uniforms took away my individuality and creative aspect of myself. Also, I concluded that I learned more in public school because private schools do not need to follow the states curriculum, the teachers taught less and were not as worried about meeting a deadline. The last aspect that forced me to resign from my parochial school was the people, because of the cost of the school more wealthy and upper class students attended the school. I found that these kids were snobby and not my kind of people. I feel much more comfortable in a public school and knowing that the education you receive from both public and private schools is equal.