U.S. Department of Education Report: Differences
and Similarities Between Public and Private Schools
Which is better:
public schools or private schools? In the debate over school effectiveness,
public schools may come out the losers. Private schools are often perceived
to be more effective, with at least some evidence to buttress that position.
In an attempt to separate the facts from the myths, the essay Public
and Private Schools: How Do They Differ? delineates differences and
similarities between public and private schools. The findings are based
on statistics from a report titled The
Condition of Education 1997, published by the National Center for
Education Statistics.
The following areas of comparison are explored in the essay:
Sources of support
School choice
Students
Teachers
School Organization and Management
School size
Class size
Decision Making for the School and Classroom
School climate
Academic programs
Elementary schools
High school academic programs
Support services
SOURCES OF SUPPORT
One defining distinction between public and private schools is their
different sources of support. Public schools depend mainly on local, state,
and federal funds, and private schools usually gain support mainly from
tuition, with some funds coming from other nonpublic sources such as religious
organizations, endowments, grants, and charitable donations.
In 1993-94 the average tuition paid by private school students was about
$3,100, ranging from a low of about $1,600 in Catholic elementary schools
to a high of about $9,500 in nonsectarian secondary schools. Total public
school expenditures were about $6,500 per pupil in 1993-94. Comparing
private and public school spending, however, is difficult because tuition
often covers only part of the total spent in private schools.
SCHOOL CHOICE
School choice, now a hot issue, has traditionally been linked with private
schools, but choice is not limited to the private sector. In the private
sector, of course, parents have the greatest choices as long as they can
afford the tuition or receive financial aid. But in public schools, parents
retain some power of choice if, for example, they can afford to select
their place of residence to place their children in a particular school
district.
In 1993, 11 percent of students in grades 3-12 attended a public school
directly chosen by their parents. That year, 9 percent of all students
in grades 3-12 attended a private school. Parents of 39 percent of students
in grades 3-12 said their child attended an assigned school but that their
choice of residence was influenced by where their children would go to
school. Thus, fewer than half (41 percent) of the students in these grades
went to assigned public schools over which their parents had no direct
or indirect choice.
Families with incomes greater than $50,000 have the most choice in schooling
for their children. Higher family income leads to greater choice in both
public and private schools.
STUDENTS
"Many of the ways in which public and private schools differ reflect
differences in their student population," says the essay. Students bring
to school different characteristics, such as racial/ethnic and linguistic
backgrounds or possibly personal problems, that affect their ability to
learn.
The following are differences between public and private school students:
Public schools tend to have more racially and ethnically diverse student
populations.
More children with limited English proficiency attend public schools.
Teachers report personal problems that obstruct learning more frequently
among public school students.
TEACHERS
Overall, public and private school teachers tend to come from different
racial/ethnic backgrounds, have different qualifications, and be compensated
differently.
Here are some contrasts between public and private school teachers:
Private schools have fewer minority teachers and principals.
According to certain measures, public school teachers appear to be
more qualified than private school teachers. In the 1993-94 school year,
for example, 42 percent of public school teachers earned a master's
degree in contrast with 30 percent of private school teachers.
On average, public school teachers receive higher salaries and more
benefits than private school teachers.
Private school teachers express more satisfaction with their working
conditions, although teacher attrition is higher in private schools.
SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT
School reform often focuses on the organization and management of schools
in an effort to maximize school effectiveness. Overall, public and private
schools are organized differently in areas such as school and class size.
In addition, public and private schools place responsibility for decision
making in different areas.
SCHOOL SIZE
Researchers have searched extensively for the ideal school size. In
general, smaller schools are thought to be easier to manage and to carry
a greater sense of community among students and teachers. Larger schools,
within limits, often have a wider array of academic programs and support
services.
Public schools tend to have larger enrollments than private schools.
In the 1993-94 school year public schools were, on average, at least twice
the size of private schools. This finding applied across schools in different
types of communities at the elementary and secondary levels.
CLASS SIZE
The average class size is larger in public schools. Smaller classes
are generally considered more desirable because they enable teachers to
give more individual attention by lightening the teacher's overall workload.
DECISION MAKING FOR THE SCHOOL AND CLASSROOM
Private school principals report more influence over curriculum than
their public school counterparts report. Public school principals cited
the State Department of Education, school district staff, and even teachers
as having more influence over curriculum than they have.
In several school policy areas, private school teachers and principals
are more likely than their public school counterparts to believe that
they have a great deal of influence. Especially in the areas of setting
discipline policy and establishing curriculum, private school teachers
in 1993-94 were more likely than public school teachers to report that
they had a great deal of influence.
In both public and private schools, the vast majority of teachers thought
that they had a good deal of control over some classroom practices, for
example, evaluating and grading students, determining the amount of homework,
and selecting teaching techniques.
SCHOOL CLIMATE
In the area of school climate, the following findings highlight the
contrast between public and private schools:
Crime and threats are far more common in public schools.
Public school teachers are far more likely to think that "certain
negative student attitudes and behaviors are serious problems in their
schools."
Lack of parental involvement is more likely to be seen as a serious
problem by public school teachers.
"Private school teachers share a greater sense of community within
their schools." A strong sense of community among teachers leads to
more effective instruction and greater satisfaction with working conditions.
ACADEMIC PROGRAMS
Establishing more stringent academic standards has been a key part of
school reform efforts that began in the 1980s. One of the National Education
Goals for the year 2000 is that all students be able to show in grades
4, 8, and 12 "competency over challenging subject matter" in a range of
subjects.
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
Public and private schools demonstrated similarities and differences
in the following areas:
Elementary public school teachers spend more time than private school
teachers on core subjects.
Elementary teachers in public and private schools use similar teaching
methods.
Private elementary school teachers handle homework differently than
public elementary teachers. Some educators argue that homework is most
beneficial to students if teachers collect, correct, and return their
assignments. More private elementary school teachers (82 percent) do
this than public school teachers (72 percent).
HIGH SCHOOL ACADEMIC PROGRAMS
At the secondary level, these differences were found between the private
and public sectors:
"Private high schools appear to have more rigorous academic programs."
"Graduates of private high schools are much more likely to have taken
advanced mathematics and science courses."
SUPPORT SERVICES
Federal and state laws mandate that public schools provide some services
that aren't required of private schools.
Public schools provide a wide array of academic support and health-related
services.
More schools in both sectors are providing extended-day programs,
but public schools are behind private schools in this area.
SUMMARY
"Although there is much variation in each sector," summarizes the report,
"public school students present their schools with greater challenges
than do their private school counterparts." Public school students are
more likely to come from diverse racial/ethnic and linguistic backgrounds,
and public school teachers are more likely than private school teachers
to report students and families with problems that somehow obstruct learning.
In general, teachers in public schools more often have certain attributes
that are thought to play a key part in effective teaching than do private
school teachers. Yet overall private schools are reported by teachers
to embody a greater feeling of community, offer more teacher autonomy,
and more teacher influence over curriculum.
Finally, an individual student's academic success depends not so much
on whether he or she attends a private or public school but rather on
a complex interaction of abilities, attitudes, and strengths or problems
brought to school; the skills and knowledge of teachers; and the quality
of the learning environment.
SOURCES
Public
and Private Schools: How Do They Differ? A copy of the essay that
the overview above summarizes is available online, at the Web site of
the National Center for Education Statistics.
Why Public
Schools? A Primer on Democracy, Community, and Opportunity The National
Education Association of Alaska published an essay challenging the assumptions
often made about public and private schools and reaffirming the value
of public schools in our society.
Which is better:
public schools or private schools? In the debate over school effectiveness,
public schools may come out the losers. Private schools are often perceived
to be more effective, with at least some evidence to buttress that position.