Ban private schools to improve public education? Great or nasty idea?

It will not work. Why? If you have enough money , you can and will just not send your kids to a public school . You would just get one of the now laid off teachers to tutor their kids at home. So the schools will remain lousy. if you have enough money you can circumvent Any rule!and even if you are middle classed you can opt to home school your child. I know if I had children they would have tutors . No way in Hell would I willingly send a child I love to public school!

It would take away choice. Many send their children to private schools because then want their children to gain a greater knowledge of their religion. Only allowing children to attend public schools would mean that they are now in a system where even reading a bible might be banned. Not everyone can afford to stay at home and teach their children at home. It is not about the separation of various classes and that the rich can afford private schools and the poor cannot (there are after all scholarship), it is about secularism. To fix public education, make sure to hire only teachers that show an interest in teaching. That would help. I think this is an attack on Christianity.

I think this isn't a communist country, and if schools want to have private schools they have that RIGHT. A lot of private schools are created because maybe they are religious, for one thing. Religion is not taught at public schools. If a family is religious, they want their child taught religion. Why should this be tossed aside because they are forced to go nowhere else besides private school? We already have public schools for free, families do not need to struggle to scrape up money to educate at least one child in their family (as is often the case in other countries). So besides not offering certain programs, oftentimes public schools are more relaxed in certain respects. Ie: Allowing tattoos, hair dying, skimpy clothing. I personally went to public school, and I like it. But many people do not want having their kids around these influences, or seeing some girls dressing very innapropriate, as they often do in school. But, that is their choice. If they want more choice, send them to a public school. If the public schools want to get better, make some laws for THEM, not control other people's choices and destroy other schools. Most leading colleges in this nation are privately owned: Brown, Harvard, Yale, Boston University, etc etc. the list goes on and on. all these places are fine institutions where both rich and middle class go. And there are both advantages to private and public schools. Honestly, in this day and age, the whole class thing is ridiculous. Yes, there is a class difference. But, it's only like 10% of all of society that's rich, and we never see them. They run things, but we do not see them on a day to day basis. And there is no oppression by them. Face it, this country is ruled by the middle class and lower class. Television shows, media, products in stores, clothing, everything is aimed towards the middle and lower classes. Unless you go to an elite upper class shop somewhere, things are affordable and aimed towards us. Basically, the classes are pretty equal. And yes, about the money issue. This is ridiculous.

Here in Finland we have no private schools, and if we are to believe the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) studies, it hasn't done us any harm link for PISA on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_Student_Assessment The reason why there aren't any private schools in Finland is because we used to be so poor after (also before) Russia (Soviet Union) had attacked us with 10 million men (+ artillery + tanks + equipment + air forces), and we were about 4,5 million inhabitants overall (no weapons, no equipment, no air forces, no artillery, no tanks, no money to buy any of them neither). We survived though, and managed to keep our independency (from which we Finnish people are VERY proud), even though we had to give them some land (+ we technically lost the war). Anyway... How could Finland, one of the poorest countries of Europe (at the time) become the first one in school? It's still a mystery even for me P.S. Finnish kids (students/pupils) are also the ones that behave the worst in the world

If the rich has money to send the children to private school then they may do so. For me private schools has nothing to do with the public. If they can offer better education to the students that is a great thing and about students in public school if they found that the public can't help much then blame the authority or the school organisation for not providing them a good education. If its all about money and only then they will give extra to the students then I will say that it's better for the parents to send their children to private than public school. So banning the private schools is not a good solution to overcome the problem. As we said that education is everyone rights the school should provide good service regardless how much it would cost.(^^)

in my opinion, that idea is just nasty a little. Cause we cant avoid from procastination of students to another . We could say that public education can be improved but that doesnt mean that we need to ban the private school. Private schools are needed to discipline the student well. Much of that private school is the reason why half of population in the United States are interested to go to school. Well hope i gave some idea :D

Huh, well it might fix up the schools in the better neighborhoods...

Well, if the preliminaries are all it takes then it wouldn't actually go to the adding more strain and tight on money. If the rich and influential get wind of this they would probably get things started very quickly and get all of it straightened out. So you problems are over! haha

I think that banning private schools is not a good idea. I saw someone mention that it would increase unemployment, but I do not think that would be the case. The teachers from the private schools would probably get jobs in the public schools as there would be an increased need for teachers with the influx of students. I also saw overcrowding listed as a reason, but I don't necessarily think that would be as much of a problem as people think, either. There have been numerous public schools that have been closed due to lack of students, which has actually lead to some of the overcrowding ... there are not enough students to warrant the added cost of having the extra school open and running but there are too many for the remaining schools to function properly. If there were more students, then the schools that were closed could just be reopened, and that might solve the overcrowding issue. I know that it sounds like I am arguing for private schools to be banned, but really I am not. I think that there is a need for private schools. It seems that many people equate private schools with higher intelligence. That is not necessarily the case. I do believe that children with higher abilities should be able to go to a school more focused on their abilities, especially if they can afford to pay for it. However, there are already programs in public schools that are specifically aimed at "above average" or "gifted" students, so they do not necessarily need private schools to address their educational needs. Children with special needs, on the other hand, do not have the same kinds of programs. Yes, there are some programs for them in public schools, but many of these programs really do not address their educational needs in a way that will allow them to excel to the best of their ability. There are private schools that will address their learning and/or behavioral issues in a way that will allow them to learn in their own way and at their own level. I think that these students are the best reason for private schools, because the private schools give them a better opportunity to become productive members of society, and I believe that everyone is entitled to have this opportunity.

For me I think no because if they can afford to in private why they get in public?.

No it wouldn't really make any difference. The people who don't care, still won't in fact care. The teachers will still be underpaid, the schools will be forced into this mechanical way of education that is really counterproductive to a lot of free thinking. The state of public education has absolutely little to do with the students but still throwing more students into the fire won't really help, as support is really spread too thin to begin with. The consequences will be ugly to say the very least. More or less, the rich would make sure that private schools would never be banned if they had any kind of influence to really make a different. They are just going to let those who are not fortunate enough to afford a private school to rot and they wouldn't ever allow such a thing to really occur. The problems of public education are something that cannot be solved with banning private schools.

I don't see the point of banning private schools. Granted, I was schooled in private schools for majority of my educational life but that was the preference of my parents and I as a dutiful daughter, believe that they would never lead me ashtray. They didn't. Aside form that, I don't get how banning these type of school is going to improve the system of education. The eduction system is different from coutnry to coutnry and it has its own distinct characteristics. If people are sending their kids to private schools, they must have a good reason - which is often parents wanting the best for their children. If the government band private schools, it would certainly cross with the interests of parents as well as students. Also, I don't see the sense of improving the system by any measure of force. The system is a reflection of the government effort on education, which means if the system fails then somebody in a governemnt position is doing something wrong. Foisting the blame on people who can afford and those who could not isn't the solution. Also, public schools are haven of problems - like mismanagement, allocation of funds and so on. Some of these problems are alleviated in the private school setting. Why give everybody a problem if there is a lesser and better choice? Private school isn't perfect and has its own advantages and enrolling in one is a risk just as much as enrolling in a public school. I also wonder if the public school system is ready for such measure. Accommodating the student population from private schools will be a strain to the system and perhaps will be another source of problem. The private system works and if the public system needs solutions, it should come from within and not outside of the system. For me, the educational system's problems are already bad. For that guy who offered this option, please don't make it worse.

I agree public education system needs to be improved, but in my opinion banning private schools will not solve the problem. This is because public schools alone cannot meet the demand. We always can have better monitoring of private schools in order to achieve the objectives. Something like public private partnership can be worked out where all the concrened parties involved are benefitted.

It sounds like a good theory, but I don't think any conservative American politician would go for it. The debate would go something like this: School Board: Banning private schools would bring smarter students into schools and would raise the threshold for public school education. More money is something that the schools need to improve the quality of education. Republicans (Shaking fists) You pesky government, you stay out of my life, I don't care if it does raise some important points we could talk about. School Board and Democrats: Motion dropped. I really don't mean to rag on conservatives as their viewpoint is just as valid as others, but I could imagine it happening like that. At worst, that looks like a great comedy in the making. Life imitating art (:

hi awinds Ithinkits a bad idea as children that are gifted seldom get the challenges they need in most public schools thare are frankly geared to the normal c average child who is in the middle of the IQ range while children who are bright are often bypassed. some private schools are for the 'kids who are way ahead of the others and are bored sick in the ordinary class room.All private schools are not just for the rich but for average families whose children are gifted. WE sent our son to a private sh ool for the gifted with vouchers and he blossomed. we were able with a grant to take advantage of a school that challenged him to learn by not holding him back. leave privates schools be as they are not the problem at all.

I was going to say that banning private schools would just be the public schools screaming "come give us your money richer folk!". I feel like private schools are needed. They offer a bit of... Properness that public schools don't, offer more... more education really. Not only because of the money the parents pay in, but because the classrooms are smaller. Now if they'd make it easier for students to get in.. some sort of scholarship.. it'd be better.

That is a very stupid idea. The decline in public schools is due to the mismanagement of fiscal and monetary policies. If the government spends as much on education as on waging wars, even normal students can top the world in Maths and Science. The success of Asian countries shows that government commitment is necessary to the success of education. It is not a matter of forcing the rich to send their children to private schools.

It is a bad idea to ban private schools. The economic impact may tell. Lots of teachers will lost their job and maybe lots of students who has money will go to other school outside the state. It is not good idea to ban the private schools. Public or private school is not the problem. The problem maybe the teaching strategies and the system of the public schools.

Where I come from, private schools are not necessarily for those who are rich. In fact, private schools here are usually for the academically-weaker students who could not pass their 'O' levels, for instance. The quality of education in a local private school is also not comparable with that in a public school. So I would say, close down those private schools that are sub-standard.