by Kevin Bahler

Created on: August 01, 2008

The idea of free private school seems a bit contradictory at first. After all, the main difference between a public school and a private school is government funding. So if the government would pay for private schools, then what are the differences?

Public schools, by their very name, are public. All children may enroll in a public school. Public schools are funded by the government, so the government retains a great amount of control over the school. The government decides what are necessary subjects to teach, what are allowable subjects to teach, and what tests students must take to concisely show that they have learned from their classes.

Private schools, because they are free from government funding, are also free from government influence. The administration or the teachers themselves decide what subjects to teach and develop tests that work with the course (as opposed to courses that teach how to pass the test) and can truly show what a student has learned. Private schools, since they are funded by the parents of the students, also have the right to refuse enrollment of whomever they wish, which is what truly makes them private and not public.

The idea of free (a.k.a. government-funded) private school is quite an intriguing one. It could mean that students would get all of the benefits of the higher quality of private schools without having to pay the money generally needed for them. But how would the logistics work? If the government is giving its money to these institutions, it does need to make sure that certain standards will be kept. The idea of standardized tests or pre-approved curricula is tempting, but that is following the same route that led to the decline of the public schools. Since the beauty of the private school is that each one is sovereign, the best method to keep track of the quality and results would probably be to have the schools fill out reports on subject material being taught (to make sure that banned material is excluded) and results in education and behavior of the students.

But what about the bad apples? Sometimes it seems that a bunch of them can bring down a whole institution. Private schools could simply refuse service to such students, but if they are funded by the government, then these students would have to be accepted. It's no worry. All the school has to do is establish the rules and enforce the punishment. Public schools can already suspend or expel students if they refuse to obey the rules. The private schools may be less tolerant, but they would be using the same rules that are already in place and accepted.

I believe that this kind of method for schooling is as close to perfect as we can get. If we can ever get this feat accomplished, we would be helping to build a brighter future for our children, and for our country (when the children start running it).

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