Public Schools

Brain Dead in America: One Nation under God
The great author Margaret Mead once said, “Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.” Americans expect their public system of education to provide a solid curriculum. There is a growing controversy in our country regarding education in private schools versus public schools. Whether or not every child should go to private schools is a decision worth questioning; however, if a child cannot handle the chaos that public schools have to offer, then the decision could be considered. Private schools are valuable and offer programs implementing great educators as well as demonstrating excellent character. In contrast, the United States prides itself on its public education system, making it an acceptable value for many families. The level of each person’s education will have influences on their career endeavors. Most of the people in the United States place their trust in the public school system in which they involuntarily support through property taxes. This trust is contradicting public system of education’s current shape towards a better America. Many of the schools in the United States are either deteriorating, or failing all together. The drawbacks of public education create an unhealthy environment for student learning. Students aren't getting the proper educational tools and with the government ahead of the students’ interest in education, they conduct the standard curriculum of learning for Americans. If public schooling serves the public interest, then it shall serve families and their children the best way it possibly can throughout involvement of teaching certain courses. Therefore, public schooling should be abolished and private schools should take their place because public schools are not working because it limits choice by having zoned school districts, larger classroom sizes, the insufficiency of budgets, and it fails to provide quality education.
If children were allowed to attend the better public schools in their communities without restriction of zoning then they would have greater advantage than other children, because not all public schools are terrible. I do believe the rareness of a city having at least one public school performing higher test scores and higher graduation rates than most, but we need all public schools on board, if that were the case. Parents that cannot afford private schools are obligated to send their child to a district zoned schools, (public schools). The students have no choice, but to attend that school hoping that parent’s child’s learning is of the essence.
Since it is a requirement made by the federal, state, and local government to assign zoned schools for communities, there is no doubt that these schools are not small class atmospheres that allows for a lower student-to-teacher ratio (Burke). In addition, teachers and staff don’t make it a priority to get to know each student better. For instance, if a student in class is acting out the teacher punishes the whole class instead of taking appropriate measures applicable to a particular student which is what private schools practice. Private schools hold each individual accountable for his or her actions so they will learn and understand the right or wrong of what they did.
Researcher Lindsey Burke states in the “Lack of Confidence in Public Schools,” “Americans have always strived for the best. Our public schools are far from it. Across the country, just one-third of children are proficient in reading. In the urban centers, that number is tragically lower. In Chicago—where public school teachers, at the behest of the government unions, are set to strike in order to demand a 30 percent pay raise—just 15 percent of children are proficient in reading” (web). If the government is not involved in public’ school systems then things will be better.
In addition, public schools should be abolished because of the insufficiency of their budgets. Public schools are receiving money from tax payers without telling them how much they are taking. If public schools are supposed to be a choice then parents should be involved in their child’s choice of education of school. Parents who are spending so much money on schools that are not performing up to standards then that shows improper use of property taxes. Though public schools are under government jurisdiction, they are really the voice of the people in these American forced schools. Why should parents have to pay for what the government feels is necessary to learn? If parents are paying for their children’s education, then they should have the ultimate decision, not the government. That is why private schools are a more promising choice. Private schools are funded by organizations such as alumni, charity, and other believers in its purpose. Concerned parents should place them into a private school where they know their child is learning and their money is not being put to waste. Since private schools are not free, students will actually want to be there versus students in public schools who are bored and have no desire to being there. Parents that know their money is being spent on something valuable are the greatest enrichment for their children’s future. Supporters argue that the costs of private schools are way too high and that everyone cannot afford it. While supporters also believe that in certain areas students are receiving the education needed especially in poverty and low-income areas paying more money for public schools will not assist its existence. Instead of the government taking more money from tax payers a solution that eliminates public school attendance mentally is already in effect. Policy Analyst in Empirical Studies Shanae Watkins Ph. D, author of “Are Public or Private Schools doing better?” researched voucher programs and its effective purpose for families that cannot afford private schools, but wish for their child to attend. Voucher programs are government sponsored and privately funded (Watkins).
Nevertheless, public schools fail at focusing on quality education. Not just overall education, yet the divine subject at matter education offers. In my opinion, public schools are guilty of not implementing such values that make a person well rounded in all areas instead they motivate and unmotivated student liking's by forcing what we think we want to know for life, for example private schools have a religious foundation that public schools are permitted from. Becky Norton Dunlop of Berkeley Law School Federalist Society states in her article of “Parental Choice in Education,” “A free society requires an educated society. It requires a conscious and deliberate pursuit of truth, an intuition rightly ordered with reality, and a coherent moral philosophy. So we must work to understand not only what is real and what is possible, but also what is right and wrong”(web).
To be completely human neither public nor private are perfect every child will have his or her weaknesses and strengths in subjects. Since public school classrooms are crowded due to compulsory attendance it is hard for teachers to help each child on an individual basis. In a classroom of public schools, students are separated into age groups, or grades. A child who is not at the same level as other students in the same age group will fall behind and have only age in common with their classmates. In the same sense, students who are academically advanced will eventually become bored and lose the desire to progress in their studies. This is a “lose-lose” situation, but it certainly does not have to be that way. Private schools are considered a privilege not a right. A more challenging curriculum and students of smaller sized classrooms benefit better. Not to mention the values private schools teach that are not only the foundation of academic skills, but the lessons needed in life about spirituality, love, morals, purpose of life, and wonders of creation. Students become more interested in school when they are learning about themselves finding out what one likes most in school. When students are happy and have that urge to learn they perform better and at a greater level such as tests. Competition is inevitable at this point.
The difference between public school teachers and private school teachers is that public school teachers are told to teach according to what the government wants while private school educators follow their school curriculum that suits their students’ needs. Parents concerning the fairness of education among their children should know that their children’s educators are educated with a degree of expertise. Between the quality of teacher education and how educators are separated in terms of degrees are measured by years of schooling and by their level of degree (Richwine). With degrees involved in the different sectors of public and private schools such that public teachers must be certified in that study while private school teachers have a degree in education. Since private schools are not under a union contract, that supports equality among students, they are able to fire and hire who they want to teach without any complications; therefore, with the reassurance that families know what and how their kids are being taught to learn to become a prominent, whole person.
In other words, it is possible to recognize what private schools have to offer as oppose to what public schools have done in America. Graduating from a public school has made me realize the truth about education and it was all a lie. When we stand and recite the pledge allegiance each day we recited our liberty under one nation under God in which we believe in, but the system surprisingly did not offer. Martin Luther King Jr. said it best, “Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education.” Think about the future of America and what we as future leaders can do to better our country.

Work Cite
Burke, Lindsey. “Lack of Confidence in Public Schools at an All-Time High”. Heritage Foundation. The Foundry. 21 June 2012. Web. 12 March 2013.
Dunlop, Becky Norton. “Parenntal Chouce in Education and Whether Tax Credits
Serve to Establish a Religion”. Heritage Foundation. 22 November 2010. Web. 3 March 2013. Richwine, Jason, Ph.D. “Assessing the Compensation of Public-School Teachers”. Heritage Foundation. 1 Nov. 2011. Web 3 March 2013. Watkins, Shanea, Ph.D. “Are Public or Private Schools Doing Better? How the NCES Study is Being Misinterpreted”. Heritage Foundation. 1 Sept. 2006. Web. 3 March 2013