Hi all,
I've been lurking on this thread and thought I'd weigh in FOR public education. Why? Because I live in a school district that works. Although statistical analysis is fine for what is happening in your nation or state or province, it really comes down to what is happening within a 10 mile radius of your home.
So, let me tell you about a real place called Middlefield, Ohio with a real school district called Cardinal with a real high school with about 420 students in grades 9-12. Like I said before, it works. It's blue collar, small town, USA.
The parents are involved. That is critcal to success. They're involved to the point of insuring that the school board hires the best educators. That the school is an integral part of the community and vise versa. That they support football games, and basketball and band concerts and theater productions and art shows and community outreach programs. And they cheer their kids on in fair weather or foul, in victory or defeat, in success or failure. That they support the academic program and entrust the teachers to educate their children to the best of the educator's ability. That they look out for trouble-in-the-making and nip it in the bud, be it drugs, alcohol or illegal weapons.
That our PUBLIC school provides after school tutoring programs for home schoolers. The higher the grade, the more home school parents drop out or throw up their hands in frustration. In the state of Ohio, home school parents are required to teach a state curriculum in order to get high school graduation credit. And without that state certified graduation certificate, no employer or institution of higher learning will give you the time of day. PERIOD! Is it fair? Maybe, maybe not. But it's how it is. You deal with it.
This program works for religious schools too, BTW, because it IS all about parents. And parents who truely love their children prepare them for the adult world by giving them maximum exposure with as many opportunites and experiences as possible. There are some good home schoolers out there, but they are few and far between. My EXPERIENCE with home schoolers has been that too many of them have a political / religious axe to grind. They think they are better than the institutions that they despise. But on the kitchen table, along with the text books are all their prejudices, preconceptions, biases, loves and hatreds. There is no other point of view except that of the parent.
And my bias is FOR public education. I hope it shows.
(:raig
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