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Education 1: Kevin Aznar, Taylor Foor, Kayla Gordon, Mackenzie Marlowe, Sydnee Mayers, Alexandra Romanello

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MAN 5716 Debate - The Merits of Private and Public Education

To examine the current United States K-12 education system, consisting of private and public institutions, warrants a deeper investigation into the history of how American schooling came to be. American education was historically rooted in religion, with the earliest system dating back to the 1600s as a forum for younger generations to learn how to read with the intent of promoting widespread reading of the Bible (Chen, 2013). From the earliest days of systematic education, high-level metrics, decided by governing bodies, determined what types of schools were available to residents of certain geographic locations. For example, in 1647, “the Massachusetts Bay Colony decreed that towns of 50 people should have a public elementary school, and those with populations of over 100 should have a Latin school” (Chen, 2013). Even after the forming of the United States into a sovereign nation, the Constitution did not provide any explicit laws around education. In fact, the establishment of a widespread public school system did not emerge until the mid-nineteenth century, with the help of Massachusetts Secretary of Education, Horace Mann (Chen, 2013). During this time separate grades were created based on student age, with many states employing laws that required education for young people, most until the age of 14 (Chen, 2013). As the United States became increasingly diverse, discrimination and separation by race permeated society and was formally legalized when the U.S. Supreme Court issued a “separate but equal” ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson, “which allowed the state of Louisiana to offer ‘separate but equal’ railroad cars to Black and White passengers” (Chen, 2013). The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision led to a mandate for separation of schools by race, giving way to almost a century of racial segregation in schools and many other facets of American society. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, which deemed racially segregated schools unconstitutional, presented a paradigm shift in American education with regards to federal government involvement (Strauss, 2018). The U.S. Department of Education was established in 1979 in response to requests for increased federal funding to improve education conditions for students in poverty and to remain competitive with education standards across the globe (U.S. Department of Education, 2010). Furthermore, the National Commission of Excellence in Education was created in 1981 to "examine the quality of education in the United States… as a result of the Secretary's concern about 'the widespread public perception that something is seriously remiss in our education system'" (Gardner, 1983). The result of that Commission was a report titled "A Nation at Risk" which intended to deter the U.S. from public schooling, aligning with President Reagan's overall movement for privatization in all areas of government (Strauss, 2018). Although private and public institutions have coexisted in the U.S. education system for decades, an in-depth analysis of the economic and social implications for each system aims to provide insights on how each system can contribute to a reformed approach to education that can better serve the school-aged population of our country.

Merits of Public School

In a perfect world, the United States public education system is envisioned to encourage diversity through free and equitable access to school, inclusion through equity of resources regardless of student race or socioeconomic status, investment in our nation’s future through proper government funding, and overall student success through rigorous measurement of student outcomes using standardized education. Although this vision has not been achieved due to drastically different educational policy nationwide and lack of government funding, the endeavor to explain the merits of a fully functional public education system in theory is necessary.

Public schools are fundamentally different from private schools in one very distinct way: K-12 education is free to the public, as it is funded from federal, state, and local governments. According to Public School Review, “approximately 48% of a school’s budget comes from state resources,” which could include anything from income taxes to sales taxes collected by the government at the state level (Chen, 2013). The next 44% of public-school funding comes from local resources such as property taxes, and the last 8% of funding comes from the Federal government (Chen, 2013). This breakdown is due to the way in which the U.S. Constitution was written, which designates the responsibility of schools to individual states in order to effectively meet the specific needs of the state (Chen, 2013).

Ideally, the public school system offers various resources to individuals in need and a diverse, inclusive experience to students of all races and socioeconomic statuses. The public school student experience in an ideal state promises to form well-rounded, properly educated individuals who are ready and motivated to enter the world after receiving their education. This occurs by offering several resources to take the stress off students and families when it comes to education. Many of these programs are funded by the federal government. These include programs such as free and reduced lunch, which provides two meals to students on each school day, removing the burden from working families to put two full meals on the table if they are unable due to their economic situation; after and before school care, which offers working families a safe place for kids to be before and after school; IDEA Special Education Grants, which offers funding to schools for support of the disabled student population to help create a more accessible experience; No Child Left Behind Title I Grants that provide funding for schools in lower income areas, and more (“Pros & Cons of Standardized Tests”, 2017). With all funding and programs working as intended, the United States public education system is both visionary and admirable. Unfortunately, this is not the reality.

The public education system in the United States is poorly funded, overcrowded and lacking in proper infrastructure. This is a significant issue because public school student outcomes are falling short of expectations on a consistent basis. Class sizes are a major factor in producing positive social, emotional, and academic results at school (Kieschnick, 2018). Research shows that the size of a class should be no larger than 18 students (Kieschnick, 2018) which is a hard goal for public schools to meet because funding for public schools is on a per-student basis, which incentivizes schools to pack classrooms. Today, the average amount of students that fill the typical American primary school classroom is 23.1 (DeGeurin, 2019). Ultimately, larger class sizes impact the quality of education provided, as it creates a stretch on resources and the teachers who are expected to deliver education in an equitable manner. While class sizes remain big in the United States public school system, certain states are trying to combat the issue with legislative action. For example, Florida made an amendment to its state constitution by setting a cap on students per class: 22 students in an elementary school classroom and 25 students in a high school classroom (DeGeurin, 2019). These numbers are lower than most, but not close to the ideal classroom size. With an increase in funding and resources, class sizes could meet expectations and the public school system could operate as envisioned. 

Education is primarily run by state and local government, so teachers and administration have more people to answer to. Standardization of curriculum in the public school system sounds good at face value as it provides a standard for what instructors teach, during what timeline, and in what manner. Additionally, students at each level are held to predetermined success metrics in the form of standardized tests. According to the “Pros and Cons of Standardized Tests”, standardized curriculum and tests provide benchmarks to see how well a student is doing compared to their classmates, identify problem areas, influence curriculum guidelines, and prevent subjective grading (2017). Today, standardized curriculum in public schools is causing significant issues. For instance, by utilizing a standard curriculum, it is evident that some teachers may “teach to the test” instead of providing students a deeper understanding of a particular subject. It is also important to recognize that a “one-size-fits-all” approach to K-12 education is not feasible due to a lack of flexibility to meet a student in their current educational standing. Although this should be prioritized in public schools, it currently is not because of a standardized curriculum. In private school, curriculum is innately more flexible, due to a lesser presence of checks and balances when it comes to curriculum and success metrics. 

While it is extremely important to outline the shortcomings of the United States public school system in its current state, it is also important to discuss the benefits students, schools, and communities stand to gain with a well-run and equitable public school system in place. Public school offers a forum where kids of all races, socioeconomic statuses, cultures, and backgrounds come to a central location to learn about the world, its history, and who they want to be. While schools still face the challenge of creating an inclusive environment for all, certain measures have been taken by the U.S. government to push public schools in this direction. For example, Grace Chen states in 10 advantages to public education that “by law, public school cannot turn students away based on academic performance, income level or disability” (2013). In addition, the United States public education system is taking legislative action to ensure schools are remaining focused on student success through laws such as Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which “maintains an expectation that there will be accountability and action to effect positive change in the lowest-performing schools, where groups of students are not making progress, and where graduation rates are low over extended periods of time” (“Every Student Succeeds Act”). Laws such as ESSA can be put in place, measured and enforced because public schools are funded by state, local, and federal governments. While the merits of public schools do not seem to outweigh their negative aspects at face value, a diverse experience and a system with consistent checks and balances is simply not something offered by private schools in the United States. 

Not only are children subjected to cultural diversities that can shape them into well-rounded citizens by understanding differences in individuals, but public education also offers many children an opportunity to thrive in the future. Research shows that individuals are more likely to find gainful employment, stable families, be productive citizens, less likely to commit crimes, and less likely to be enrolled in welfare assistance programs when provided an education (Barrington, 2019). Preliminary public education can be a great foundation for children to succeed.

Therefore, we believe that the U.S. government at the state, local, and federal levels should prioritize investment and increase budget allocation in the public education system to address visible gaps in resources, infrastructure, technology, staff and general funding. With the proper investment, public schools in the United States could operate as they are envisioned, and free K-12 education could be available to all families. Until proper funding, budget allocations and other issues can be addressed, and prioritized, private schools will continue to evolve and public school educators and their communities will continue to be frustrated with the lack of progress.

Merits of Private School

The argument for privatization revolves around choice, providing parents and students with the ability to select an educational institution suited for the needs of each child. With private education, if one school is not meeting a child’s needs or parental expectations, families have the option to move their child to a different school with minimal ramifications. Choosing an educational experience can be an asset for many families; however, it can become a challenging exercise for households with children who have learning disabilities or special needs and require individualized education programs as these may not be available at all schools. 

With that said, because the crux of educational privatization is choice, it creates competition between private schools. Whereas public schools have minimal incentive to drive performance, which can create subpar educational environments, private schools need to be innovative to draw students and remain competitive in the market. As Matthew J. Brouillette notes in The Case for Choice in Schooling: Restoring Parent Control of Education, "in a competitive education marketplace, behavior of consumers and suppliers will be the same as in other markets, with standards perhaps being even higher due to the singular importance most people place on education.  Schools that provide high-quality education for children will attract and retain students, while schools that do not will likely lose students. In such an environment, it is reasonable to expect that schools that fail to provide an education (service) that students and parents (consumers) want, or value will go out of business" (2001). Unlike private institutions, public schools simply need to meet a minimum number of student attendees to remain open, which provides little incentive to invest in new and innovative educational approaches. Also, public schools today are traditionally populated according to a student's reported residence, which corresponds to a particular school district and school zone within that district. With a system that solely depends on a student’s residence, which may be incorrect or outdated, public schools can become increasingly overcrowded, possibly creating negative learning environments for students who are unable to get adequate time and attention from instructors. Private schools can regulate student selection with their admissions processes, allowing them to control class sizes and student-to-teacher ratios, which can combat the negative effects caused by overcrowding. 

Currently private schools in the U.S. are not directly backed by the government, with funding generally coming from tuition and donations from alumni, businesses, and community organizations. Though the U.S. government does not directly fund private schools, they do provide funding for students that are looking to attend private schools in the form of grants and vouchers. These vouchers are virtually equivalent to the amount of money the government would have spent educating these students if they had attended public school. In essence, this voucher becomes a stipend for tuition and fees for families choosing the private school route. Additionally, the government also provides tax breaks to individuals and companies who donate to private institutions, which in turn, provides students with scholarships to attend private schools. Ideally, if the U.S. were to privatize K-12 education and expand the current voucher system, every student would receive a stipend from the government with the amount of money that would have been spent educating that student through the public school system. The stipend approach could increase the level of equity in K-12 education as it would increase education opportunities for all students, particularly those that come from low-income communities or poorly-funded school districts where educational resources are scarce. With each family being provided financial support for their child’s education, taxes to fund the K-12 system would likely decrease as the funding needed to maintain school systems and personnel would no longer be needed. The goal for the stipend approach would be to lower taxes paid by U.S. families as funding for K-12 education would be geared towards stipend allowances for private school attendance. A shift towards a privatized K-12 education system could present all families, regardless of race, religion, or socioeconomic background, with a path to choose the schools that best align with their child’s needs. With this paradigm shift, the demand for privately run academic institutions would naturally increase, consequently increasing competition as education providers would vie for a larger market of potential candidates as some students who were previously unable to afford private education could now do so. This demand would also necessitate the development of additional schools, therefore, creating additional supply of institutions to choose from. Since families would likely be looking to enroll their children in the best schools, this would create competition and pressure among the schools to improve overall quality, much like the competition that exists in every other good or service industry. Competition between private schools could drive better curriculum, enhanced extracurricular activities, and a higher quality education system. Underperforming schools would, over time, become eradicated as their customers (students and parents) would take their business elsewhere if their expectations and needs are not met.

With opportunities to increase parent engagement in education and create a more diverse environment in private schools, privatization of K-12 education can create social benefits that have a lasting impact on student educational experiences. Since parents would no longer be able to rely on the school district and zoning process to pick a school for their child, each family would take on the responsibility of selecting schools for their child’s education. This increased level of engagement in their child’s education journey could incentivize and motivate parents to be more involved in school activities and influence the curriculum of the education provided to their children. The privatized education approach would differ from public schools significantly in this respect as public schools are run by the government and politicians, leaving parents with little room to dictate what is taught or how the school is run. Parents could see tremendous value in institutions that foster collaboration between parents and schools, and in turn, could help ensure their child’s needs are met by holding schools more accountable. As this collaborative approach between families and schools would become the norm, private schools in general would likely place increased importance on the feedback and input of parents, who would be acting as stakeholders or customers. Also, with private schools becoming the norm for education, it would likely increase the diversity mix within schools as students who were previously in public schools would now have the opportunity and funding to attend private institutions. According to UCLA’s Civil Rights Project, “the 2015 racial composition of private school enrollment was 68.6% white, 9.3% black, 10.4% Hispanic, 6.9% Asia,” which shows that private schools are disproportionately available to students of certain races and are likely to be tied to a student’s socioeconomic background (Jongyeon et al., 2018). As it stands, diversity is currently lacking in the private school sector, however, this would be an inevitable change if the entire population had to elect a private school. Similar to the way private companies are held accountable by laws and regulations implemented to prevent discrimination and encourage diversity, a governing body, such as the U.S. Department of Education, would need to develop a similar model. This could impact the nation by enabling future generations to be exposed to and share with peers of various ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Currently public schools tend to be more diverse, nevertheless, a push towards private education could organically increase the diversity mix to a level beyond what is seen in public schools today. 

Complete privatization of the education system aligns with Ayn Rand’s economic theory, which pushes for complete privatization of markets with little to no government involvement. With this more individualistic approach, there would be more competition, innovation, and educational advances with each private institution pursuing profitability by catering to the needs of students. Privatization would keep the needs of the consumers at the forefront and would limit administrative corruption and influence that politics may have on the current education system. Simultaneously, privatization would enable the government to reallocate tax revenue that was formerly used on education to pay their debts and reinforce the public treasury, all of which could have a positive impact on the economy. Notwithstanding, complete privatization is an extreme approach that may lack stability. “A diverse approach to education encourages people to think differently when they reach adulthood, leading to developments in business, industry, and the arts…would America be as creative if all the schools in the country were the same?” (as cited in Halpert, 2018). The previous quote from Donna Orem, president of the National Association for Independent Schools, brings to light the potential flaws in a fully privatized education system.

While both the public and private education systems have their merits and shortfalls when it comes to the experience for the student, charter schools are somewhat of a middle ground between private and public education. Fueled by President Clinton's Improving America's Schools Act in 1994, charter schools are publicly funded, privately operated, and are designed to be more innovative than public schools (Strauss, 2018). President Bush furthered the charter schools and vouchers movement by signing the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002 which allows students in low-testing, low-income public schools to transfer to a higher performing public school within their district or a charter school (Strauss, 2018). There are no address requirements for admission to charter schools, no tuition, they are completely composed of voluntary enrollment, and they receive government funding based on the size of the school (Brouillette, 2001). That means, if the school does not attract students, it does not receive government funding. It is important to note that these funds are transferred directly from the public school districts, so for every student that attends a private school, money is being taken away from the public school budget (Strauss, 2018). There are many different private groups that can start a charter school such as nonprofits, corporations, school districts, churches, or even parents (Nelson, 2014). Aside from school operation, charter schools differ from public schools in that they set their own curriculum, school hours, rules, and have more flexibility to hire and fire teachers (Nelson, 2014). The ability to set their own curriculum is popular amongst people who believe that government set curriculum and testing in the public school system is failing. Additionally, because this is a competitive market, the service providers (the school) would likely listen to feedback from their consumers regarding the points mentioned above such as curriculum, school hours, rules, and teachers. Given the similarities with private schools, charters schools could be another means of privatization and instead of allowances being sent to parents, they could be directly allocated to the schools since they govern themselves. While charter schools may not solve all the shortcomings that exist in the U.S. school system, they provide a platform to combine the best aspects of public and private education into a unified, equitable school system that can empower American students to learn and develop in K-12 education and beyond. “When an entire society is educated, productivity increases, average income increases, and unemployment decreases. This leads to the economic growth and stability of a society as a whole. It starts with education” (Hochman, 2021). 

References

Barrington, K. (2019, January 01). New Study Confirms That Private Schools Are No Better Than Public Schools. Public School Review. https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/new-study-confirms-that-private-schools-are-no-better-than-public-schools 

Brouillette, M. J. (2001). The Case for Choice in Schooling: Restoring Parental Control of Education. Mackinac Center for Public Policy. https://www.mackinac.org/S2001-01

Chen, G. (2013, January 27). A History of Public Schools. Public School Review. https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/a-history-of-public-schools 

Chen, G. (2013, February 04). An overview of the funding of public schools. Public School Review. https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/an-overview-of-the-funding-of-public-schools 

Chen, G. (2013, July 28). 10 advantages to public education. Public School Review. https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/10-advantages-to-public-education#:~:text=Students%20are%20more%20apt%20to,that%20attend%20a%20particular%20school

DeGeurin, M. (2019, August 20). Many public school classrooms are overcrowded, but some states fare worse than others. Here's the average class size for every US state. Insider. https://www.insider.com/states-with-the-best-and-worst-public-education-systems-2019-8#nebraska-elementary-schools-averaged-199-students-per-class-while-high-school-class-sizes-were-similarly-small-at-217-students-per-classroom-27 

Gardner, D. P., A Nation at Risk  (1983). Washington, D.C.; U.S. Department of Education. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED226006.pdf

Halpert, J. (2018, March 4). What If America Didn't Have Public Schools? The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/03/what-if-america-didnt-have-public-schools/552308

Hochman, A. (2021, January 13). 10 Benefits of Education That Will Surprise You. University of the People. https://www.uopeople.edu/blog/benefits-of-education-are-societal-and-personal/  

Jongyeon, E., Orfield, G., & Teitell, J. (2018, March 5). Private Schools in American Education: A Small Sector Still Lagging in Diversity. The Civil Rights Project. https://www.civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/k-12-education/integration-and-diversity/private-schools-in-american-education-a-small-sector-still-lagging-in-diversity

Kieschnick, W. (2018, March 02). Does Class Size Matter? The Answer Is Yes. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. https://www.hmhco.com/blog/class-size-matters

Nelson, L. (2014, April 30). Everything you need to know about charter schools. Vox. https://www.vox.com/2014/4/30/18076968/charter-schools

Pros & Cons of Standardized Tests. (2017, June 22). Grade Power Learning. https://gradepowerlearning.com/pros-cons-standardized-tests/

Strauss, V. (2018, May 30). What and who is fueling the movement to privatize public education - and why should you care. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2018/05/30/what-and-who-is-fueling-the-movement-to-privatize-public-education-and-why-you-should-care/

U.S. Department of Education. (2010, September 10). An Overview of the U.S. Department of Education. U.S. Department of Education. https://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/focus/what.html

U.S. Department of Education (n.d.). Every Student Succeeds ACT (ESSA). https://www.ed.gov/essa?src=rn