Quote:
Originally posted by baltassoc
I find this a very confusing issue. While I certainly agree that people should have the freedom to send their kids to private schools, I still think the statistics club cites are a shame. It shows a lack of belief in the product one is producing. But it also compounds the problems in the public schools. Teachers kids tend to be smarter and more stable. Taking these kids out of the public school environment destablizes the schools even more.
I don't think this requires some sort of mandate against teachers sending their kids to private school, but do think it's a regretable phenomena.
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Your comment is flawed for a few reasons. Most importantly, the public school education is not simply a product of the teachers efforts but operates in a broader context.
An example: just yesterday, I spoke with a woman (really hot -- but that's not relevant here) who used to teach at a public school in SF, and expects to return to public school teaching after getting a degree. The school where she taught regularly conducted "drive-by" drills -- what to do if someone started shooting on campus. Four kids at the school had been killed in such incidents the prior year. This sort of thing happens at public schools all over SF, and I would suggest has nothing to do with the skills of the teachers or the product they produce. Under those circumstances, I think we should admire her dedication for actually continuing to teach in public schools -- not criticize her decision not to force her own willingness to work in danger onto her kids by having them attend the same school.
Another part of the context, of course, is money. Public schools are starving, with classes growing and extra-curric activities being slashed. Would you criticize someone for sending her kid to private school so he could be someplace with a music program? Why is it wrong for a public school teacher -- who plays no role in the funding decisions that limit the resources available to public school students -- to make that decision? Again, this is not the product she produced.
Another part is textbook choice. Again, not something that individual teachers decide. Public school texts are getting worse and worse, in large part because of the influence of the religious right. Having seen the books that some public schools force kids to read, based on state-wide purchasing decisions (or, worse, based on decisions by the publishers about what they have to print in order to sell their books to the Texas school system), I personally would not send my kid to public school. His private school makes its own purchasing decisions, and isn't bound by district-wide, state-wide, or regional decisionmaking bodies.
Expressing "regret" or shock over (a minority of) public school teachers sending their kids to private school is kind of like criticizing people who volunteer at soup kitchens for eating at restaurants.
