The federal Education Department reported Friday that, in reading and math, children attending public schools generally do as well as or better than comparable children in private schools. The exception was in eighth-grade reading, where the private-school children did better.
Well, that's certainly worth the extra $15K per year or whatever, isn't it? Of course, most of the point of private schooling is not actually better education, but better opportunities for the future. People are somehow impressed that you went to Philips Andover prep school, even if you come out unable to pronounce fairly simple words like "nuclear" and "malfeasance".
More seriously, what if it's just a big fucking scam perpetuated by an educational industry, that is going to have the ancillary effect of separating equally (or better) qualified have-nots from the upper class of ignorant swells that get the jobs and perks just because they networked at the "right" schools and it looks good on their résumé? What if that's what's already happening, it's just going to take an extra decade or so for the statistical results to come in, and by then a whole generation is wasted because of public misperceptions about public schools and the educational system in general?
Mind you, I'm as sick to my stomach as anyone when I hear about x% of x-grade students being perplexed at the daunting task of finding Canada on a map, or being completely unable to speak, write, or think extemporaneously. There is a systemic problem inherent in any bureaucracy that is federally mandated to be everything to everyone. Critical thinking, both as a subject and a principle, falls by the wayside.
But when it comes out that there isn't really much of a difference between what kids learn at public and private schools, then you have to start wondering what exactly the private-school customers (and that's really what they are) are paying for, and why we can't convey those same intangible traits of security, stability, and upward mobility on the great unwashed underclasses who simply can't afford to shell out five figures a year for an elite school transcript.
Here's an added bonus:
The report, which compared fourth- and eighth-grade reading and math scores from nearly 7,000 public schools and more than 530 private schools in 2003, also found that conservative Christian schools lagged significantly behind public schools when it came to eighth-grade math.
Heh indeedy. No wonder the theocons want to get rid of the Education Department; they refuse to recognize their divinely-inspired belief that 2+2=6.
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