Monday, March 29, 2010
PUBLIC EDUCATION
When public education comes to mind, I think of a free government run school system that attempts to serve its students to the best of their ability. I have attended both private and public schools and find very few differences in terms of education. There are a couple differences though in terms of wearing uniforms, stricter discipline methods and privately hired teachers. The value of education in my opinion however is the same if someone were to take honors and AP classes at a public school. In my opinion, the only major difference in public and private education is the on level classes which are harder at private schools. In a public school, taxes pay for the faculty, books and athletic facilities for that school. In a private school, tuitions and private donations from usually upper class families pay for the entire faculty, books and athletic facilities. Private schools might guarantee a better education because I believe the environment is slightly more professional with the uniforms and stricter discipline. It lets the students know that they are at the school for one sole purpose: to get an education. I believe that if uniforms were worn at public schools, grade point averages would rise at a significant notice. Sometimes when students wear there own clothing, they think that they are at a normal place and do not take education as seriously as some private school students do because when a student sees a uniform on another student they know that they are at school for one reason; to get an education. Regardless, I think the public education system is working because schools around the area where I live are some of the best schools in the public education system in Georgia. The schools in Johns Creek: Chattahoochee, Northview and Johns Creek all are some of the top schools in the state. Chattahoochee in the year of 1999 was voted a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence. That is a very impressive award that very few public schools are recognized for. I am not worried about the public education in North Fulton because many people that attend schools in this area turn out to attend successful colleges therefore turning into successful businessmen and women one day. It is the schools down in South Georgia that need to be reformed in terms of quality of education. Getting an education at a public school in South Georgia near the Florida border is not the same as getting an education in North Fulton County. I believe based on statistics that I see in the newspaper that I am receiving top education in the state of Georgia in terms of public education. I believe that in terms of the quality of education that schools in North Fulton County need to keep running things how they are now, and the schools that are seeing less impressive results on standardized tests and in GPAs need to reform some education policies. There really is not a difference in public and private education; it is just a matter of how hard a student wants to work and what level of classes that student wants to take.
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The opening statements of Jay’s blog is interesting because he states that he is a student that has experienced both private and public school. I wrote about there not being major differences between public and private schools but I could not go into detail confirming this belief due to my lack of experience of attending a private school. This blog by Jay introduces a personal experience to back up his blog, which could not exist within my own. He talks about the differences in on level classes, which makes my argument that they are not very different weaker. I find it interesting that private school on level courses are harder than public school’s on level courses.
ReplyDeleteJay also makes my argument less impressive by stating that the two types of schools are a lot different by stating his own personal beliefs about uniforms helping make grades increase. Uniforms make the school environment more professional. He believes that due to the higher sense of professionalism in private schools this causes the students to be more successful. Is this necessarily a fact for every private school?
I think that not all private schools guarantee a successful education. Private schools are like businesses. Businesses can be successful or fail. Unfortunately these private schools can fail and not be successful. When a school is not getting enough money, this could effect the education its students receive ranging from not having enough books or higher tuition cost casing the students to go somewhere else for school.
I support Jay’s resolution for the differences between schools. I also believe that schools like our own in Fulton County should stay the same and the schools that are lacking should reform using our school system as a model for what they should work for. Schools that are successful should not start being worse so that all schools are the same. All schools should work to be the best they can.
I agree with most of Jay's argument that private school is more "professional" therefore the learning environment is better suited for teenagers. Teens in public schools are often distracted by the way people dress themselves or wear their hair. If public schools were to institute uniforms, the attention of the students would be refocused back into learning. That is truly the only difference between public schooling in the Johns Creek area. However, i believe it is too broad of a statement to simply say private school is not that different from public school. It is only in this area that we are fortunate enough to have the benefits of the upper and middle class tax dollars that are put towards hiring better teachers. In other parts of Georgia, and all across the world, public schooling is not always as equivalent to private schooling as it is in the area we reside in. Even down the street a little ways at Duluth High School the windows are broken, there's graffiti, and it seems almost "ghetto". I do not believe that school would be considered to be private school caliber.
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