Private schools versus public schools

Private vs. Public Schools

In the first quarter of 2010, the U.S. Department of Education reported that there has been a big shift in enrolment from public to private schools. This shift occurred at all levels, from pre-K to middle school until high school. In fact, the Department further reported that this shift has been happening in the past years, as early as 2006. From 2006-2010, private school enrolment fell to almost 3%, with the biggest shift in enrollees in pre-K to middle school, at about 4%. Public school enrolment at these levels, meanwhile, increased to 3%. At the high school level, this shift is more pronounced as enrolment in both public and private schools fell to 2.35%, with public high schools getting the lowest enrolment rate at 2.5% (private school, 0.5%).

The observed shifts in enrolment and low enrolment rates in private schools demonstrate the economic disparity between students who attend public and private schools. This shift has also reflected the current state of economy of the country, wherein public schools are now more preferred than private schools because it is subsidized and allows families to continue providing education for their children in the midst of an economic crisis.

The economic profile of public and private schools, including the socio-economic status of the families of children who attend them, is just one of the many differences that characterize educational institutions, especially those that are subsidized by the government and privately-owned. The following discussion further looks into the differences and similarities between public and private schools. The analysis provided herein will highlight the importance of each type of institution, with emphasis on how each responds to different, specific socio-economic groups, but ultimately, each provides quality education using their own methods and system. The comparative analysis between public and private schools will focus on three important factors relevant to quality education: student profile, quality of teacher performance, and student performance.

Student profile

More often than not, students who attend public or private schools are dependent on their parents' choices. Thus, students' profiles are also dependent on their family background or characteristics. Inevitably, by also looking into parents' school choices, students' profiles are not only discovered, but also perceived strengths and weaknesses of public and private schools, from the parents' perspective or point-of-view.

In a study by Goldring (2008), it was determined that students with parents whose background come from the higher income bracket and have attained higher educational attainment "place a higher value" on education and would therefore tend to choose private schools for their children. Another interesting finding is how school choice is also related to one's religious affiliation. In the same study, the author found out that students whose families have a Catholic or Christian background tend to send their children to private schools instead of public schools (211).

Students who attend public schools, meanwhile, tend to have family backgrounds representing the marginalized groups in the society. This includes families whose incomes are from lower middle to lower income brackets and parents who did not have not achieved higher education.

Race and ethnicity are also factors to be considered in parents' preference for public or private schools for their children. Since race and ethnicity are also related to socio-economic status and educational attainment, and white Americans tend to be characterized as having higher incomes and educational attainment, they are a group who are most likely to prefer and choose private schools. Conversely, ethnic groups and races who have been almost always associated with mid- to lower income brackets (such as Hispanic/Latin American families and to a certain degree, black/African-Americans) tend to choose public schools.

However, it was strongly established that despite racial and ethnic differences, students whose family's religious affiliation is Catholic or Christian are most likely to attend private schools than public schools (212).

But it should be noted that student profile as discussed in Goldring's study is dependent on their parents' choices and preferences (which could be argued as almost always the case, especially for students at the pre-K to middle school levels). These profiles of students' family background who attend public and private schools demonstrate that school choice is a combination of parents' values towards education and their socio-economic backgrounds and capabilities.

Teacher performance (Quality of teaching)

Quality of education is also linked to teacher performance, specifically, the competence and quality of teaching that teachers give their students. Teachers with impressive or highly commendable qualifications tend to teach at private schools instead of public schools. Thus, it can be surmised that because of teacher "quality" based on credentials are higher in private schools than public schools, students in private schools are getting quality education than public schools.

However, this assumption is disproved in Xu's (2006) study, which determined if teachers' credentials translate to quality of teaching. The researchers found that teachers' credentials "shows no relationship" with students' (improvement in) academic performance (355). Thus, teaching quality assumed to be driven by teacher credentials do not necessarily translate to improved academic performance of students. This also disproves the notion that since private schools are able to hire teachers with more impressive credentials than public schools, the latter would have a lower education quality than the former.

This finding provides an important insight into the role that teachers play in providing quality education in whatever type of educational institution -- whether public or private. It is the teaching quality variable that levels the standard between public and private schools -- that, despite differences in their curriculum, system, student profile and culture, teachers and teaching quality will not be school type dependent as other factors relevant to identifying the distinction between the two (i.e., public and private schools).

Students' academic performance