Home SchoolingFollow

It appears that I have contradicted myself.

Despite the findings of these school systems in Cleveland and Milwaukee I'd have to say that I'd put my money on a kid who is in the private school. Yes, I can personaaly attest that attendance at a private school in no way guarantees performance or even a half-heartedly interested and engaged student. And perhaps it's the ability of a private school to rid itself of undesirables or underperformers that gives these places (in my anecdotal experience) a better off-to-college-when-they-graduate rate. Additionally, I'd agree that there is no question that parenting is a major, if not the contributing factor in a child's education.

Yet, again, the environment of a well run private school has to be more conducive to learning than your typical school.

Totem

Note: I'd add that in my anecdotal experience, there appears to be another factor in a child's willingness or ability to learn and that would be the culture of his class. I have seen one class go by that is academically oriented, and the following year the next class might be more inclined towards sports. Or goofing off. Or talking in class. Whatever. These would just be another one of those intangables you can't measure and put on a government sponsored graph.

Yet one more little ancedote. The public school my kids attended does better, academically, most years running, than the high-buck private school down the road.

My x-next door nieghbor was a science teacher at the private school. Despite free tuition for his kids they went to the public school (both were into music/band and the public schools program is far superior).

Public schools can be highly successful but they need the buy-in from the families and community. That's where private and home-schooling really starts to undermine the public school system. If your kids don't go to the schools your not likely to turn out for the school board meetings and/or vote 'aye' on funding needs.

I did say I was speaking generally. Don't be a smartass.



Well you really quelled any doubts I had that you've a well thought-out philosophy of education. Educate WHAT? Teach Star-Wars and MTV?

And you have no idea what my vision of a teacher's role is. You're just taking stabs in the dark.





On the first two, in general, yes. Public school parents are less involved, though not always or necessarily because they don't care, though you can be damn sure that almost all the ones that don't particularly care send their kids to public schools and not private schools.

And I never said that private school kid's parents were all wealthy. On average they are more affluent, but that's really only a minor issue.

The comment about homeschooling is just you putting words in my mouth. I've never said anything like that.

Are you going to insist on continually ignoring that parental involvement is the primary factor here?

Maybe you're overreaching with the term "parental involvement." At the very least most of those parents will intervene if their child is in disciplinary trouble. I'm talking about parents who downright neglect their kids-- who give only as much parental involvement as the law requires. You won't find a meaningful amount of those people shelling out the extra cash to send their kids to a private school.

And again, I was speaking in general.

I personally find insulting the assumption that parents who want their kids going to public school don't care.

I just wanted to remind you that you need to get Hannah on waiting lists for the good private kindergartens down here pretty soon.

:)

I thought you were going to home school her?

I'm not sure being able to count into a 6 deck blackjack shoe and knowing who the congressperson in the 4th district of Ohio will be enough to get her into Harvard.

"...overwhelming evidence..." --Smasharoo

I believe most here would say "evidence" and leave off the "overwhelming." I haven't seen anything yet that crushes my argument. Solid counterpoints? Sure. Overwhelming? Naaaaah.

Totem

I believe most here would say "evidence" and leave off the "overwhelming." I haven't seen anything yet that crushes my argument. Solid counterpoints? Sure. Overwhelming? Naaaaah.

Nor will you, about anything, ever. We live in a society that doesn't value objective truth at all, it values having it's private feeling confirmed. Biased studies, or hell, even wholly fabricated ones are equivocated with real peer reviewed research to allow people to cling to whatever fantasy they want.

So congratulations, what you've been told to believe will continue to be supported to a sufficient degree for other people to profit from it without it being obvious how wrong you are to the vast majority of people.

To people with any sort of critical thinking abilities, of course, you'll look like a giant sucker, but that's really a very small risk these days, isn't it?

In that case, you just misread. There was no assumption that parents who send their kids to public schools don't care at all. All I said was that parents who don't care almost never send their kids to private school.



I very much doubt there are any public schools who don't have any students with disabilities, and if they are, they are almost certainly within a demographic where fewer disabled students are in any neighboring private schools. While yes, it's possible that there are a few exceptions, it's a laughably small number. It really does not even merit discussion, so I stand by my statement that you were being a smartass.



You're insulting my education when you don't even seem to understand that a philosophy of education entails far more than an overly obvious statement that the purpose of schools is to educate kids? You seem less and less "qualified" each time you respond. Developing a philosophy of education is Education 101. Your utter failure to address a plain question leads me to suspect that... well, it would be redudant at this point.

Ah, well that about sums you up pretty nicely I guess.

One who doesn't take the time to reflect thoroughly on their own collection of perceptions, organize them, and ultimately use that knowledge to define a sense of purpose... is probably someone who doesn't have much to say that their mommy and daddy couldn't say for them. If developing your philosophy is mental ************* speaking on the subject without a philosophy is mentally fucking everyone in arm's reach without a rubber.

Good... now we know what's important in life. All we have to do is teach this to our children and the world will be right.