Public School Teachers - any different than private school teachers?

[Anonymous]

You can't generalize about public schools from one visit to a bad teacher's classroom. The best K and 1st teacher we've had were in public school, and the worst 1st teacher we had was in private. Our experience is that private schools are more responsive to parents (we're paying, after all), and more flexible with curriculum. But you can have a terrible experience in private and a fantastic experience in public. You have to do lots of research and be lucky. Teaching varies from year to year at both public and private.

Visit lots of schools, and then make a decision. It's not set in stone. You can change schools. We have, and it's always worked out.

[Anonymous]

If I had the money, I'd send my kids to private school. But it would be because of the smaller class sizes, the ability to discipline students and the ability to get rid of students who are ill-behaved. That having been said, for me, it has nothing to do with the quality of teacher, which I feel, is probably the same across the board. DH and I went to public and DH is also a teacher in public. Both of my children go to public (which is what we can afford on a teacher's income, by the way!). I agree with a PP that in private schools, you are more likely to find teachers whose spouses make enough money to support the lower income. I think many teachers would prefer teaching in private schools due to the better managed classrooms (due to size and better discipline) and would therefore teach in private if they could. Does that make them a better teacher? I don't think so. I had only one terrible teacher in my public school education - in 3rd grade. Mrs. Daniki - if you are out there -- you are the biggest b**ch I ever knew!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If I had the money, I'd send my kids to private school. But it would be because of the smaller class sizes, the ability to discipline students and the ability to get rid of students who are ill-behaved. That having been said, for me, it has nothing to do with the quality of teacher, which I feel, is probably the same across the board. DH and I went to public and DH is also a teacher in public. Both of my children go to public (which is what we can afford on a teacher's income, by the way!). I agree with a PP that in private schools, you are more likely to find teachers whose spouses make enough money to support the lower income. I think many teachers would prefer teaching in private schools due to the better managed classrooms (due to size and better discipline) and would therefore teach in private if they could. Does that make them a better teacher? I don't think so. I had only one terrible teacher in my public school education - in 3rd grade. Mrs. Daniki - if you are out there -- you are the biggest b**ch I ever knew!

You're a teacher? No wonder the public has so little respect for us and our profession.

I'm grateful I have no colleagues (public school) who act as you do.

And FWIW, my daughter's class has 30 kids in it - private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I had the money, I'd send my kids to private school. But it would be because of the smaller class sizes, the ability to discipline students and the ability to get rid of students who are ill-behaved. That having been said, for me, it has nothing to do with the quality of teacher, which I feel, is probably the same across the board. DH and I went to public and DH is also a teacher in public. Both of my children go to public (which is what we can afford on a teacher's income, by the way!). I agree with a PP that in private schools, you are more likely to find teachers whose spouses make enough money to support the lower income. I think many teachers would prefer teaching in private schools due to the better managed classrooms (due to size and better discipline) and would therefore teach in private if they could. Does that make them a better teacher? I don't think so. I had only one terrible teacher in my public school education - in 3rd grade. Mrs. Daniki - if you are out there -- you are the biggest b**ch I ever knew!

You're a teacher? No wonder the public has so little respect for us and our profession.

I'm grateful I have no colleagues (public school) who act as you do.

And FWIW, my daughter's class has 30 kids in it - private.

No - DH is a teacher. Maybe people who make generalizations about people without getting their facts straight are the reason "the public has so little respect for (your) profession"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I had the money, I'd send my kids to private school. But it would be because of the smaller class sizes, the ability to discipline students and the ability to get rid of students who are ill-behaved. That having been said, for me, it has nothing to do with the quality of teacher, which I feel, is probably the same across the board. DH and I went to public and DH is also a teacher in public. Both of my children go to public (which is what we can afford on a teacher's income, by the way!). I agree with a PP that in private schools, you are more likely to find teachers whose spouses make enough money to support the lower income. I think many teachers would prefer teaching in private schools due to the better managed classrooms (due to size and better discipline) and would therefore teach in private if they could. Does that make them a better teacher? I don't think so. I had only one terrible teacher in my public school education - in 3rd grade. Mrs. Daniki - if you are out there -- you are the biggest b**ch I ever knew!

You're a teacher? No wonder the public has so little respect for us and our profession.

I'm grateful I have no colleagues (public school) who act as you do.

And FWIW, my daughter's class has 30 kids in it - private.

Just curious why you would choose to send a child to private school with such a large class size?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've had kids in both public and private, and even though we had some wonderful public school teachers, I think the main problem was that when we finally encountered a terrible one (disorganized, many complaints from parents) the school system just can't seem to get rid of her. So she's still there, being moved around. We've been uniformly impressed with the quality of the teachers at the private school -- they seem to give each kid more individualized attention, and there's much more communication with the parents; they don't wait until things are bad to let you know if there's a bump in the road. I think that private schools can just get rid of poor teacher more easily, plus they have to answer to parents who are shelling out 30K a year.

if you cannot get rid of the bad teacher, can you avoid her, like ask for a change of the class?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I had the money, I'd send my kids to private school. But it would be because of the smaller class sizes, the ability to discipline students and the ability to get rid of students who are ill-behaved. That having been said, for me, it has nothing to do with the quality of teacher, which I feel, is probably the same across the board. DH and I went to public and DH is also a teacher in public. Both of my children go to public (which is what we can afford on a teacher's income, by the way!). I agree with a PP that in private schools, you are more likely to find teachers whose spouses make enough money to support the lower income. I think many teachers would prefer teaching in private schools due to the better managed classrooms (due to size and better discipline) and would therefore teach in private if they could. Does that make them a better teacher? I don't think so. I had only one terrible teacher in my public school education - in 3rd grade. Mrs. Daniki - if you are out there -- you are the biggest b**ch I ever knew!

You're a teacher? No wonder the public has so little respect for us and our profession.

I'm grateful I have no colleagues (public school) who act as you do.

And FWIW, my daughter's class has 30 kids in it - private.

Just curious why you would choose to send a child to private school with such a large class size?

b/c the curriculum is excellent and the teachers are equipped to deal with large class sizes

I've taught classes of 35 9th and 10th graders. If you have good management, teaching isn't a problem. The grading becomes tiresome, however.

Class size isn't always an issue for some.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I had the money, I'd send my kids to private school. But it would be because of the smaller class sizes, the ability to discipline students and the ability to get rid of students who are ill-behaved. That having been said, for me, it has nothing to do with the quality of teacher, which I feel, is probably the same across the board. DH and I went to public and DH is also a teacher in public. Both of my children go to public (which is what we can afford on a teacher's income, by the way!). I agree with a PP that in private schools, you are more likely to find teachers whose spouses make enough money to support the lower income. I think many teachers would prefer teaching in private schools due to the better managed classrooms (due to size and better discipline) and would therefore teach in private if they could. Does that make them a better teacher? I don't think so. I had only one terrible teacher in my public school education - in 3rd grade. Mrs. Daniki - if you are out there -- you are the biggest b**ch I ever knew!

You're a teacher? No wonder the public has so little respect for us and our profession.

I'm grateful I have no colleagues (public school) who act as you do.

And FWIW, my daughter's class has 30 kids in it - private.

No - DH is a teacher. Maybe people who make generalizations about people without getting their facts straight are the reason "the public has so little respect for (your) profession"

No, I don't think that's the case. Perhaps if you wrote clearly, people wouldn't misinterpret your message. Furthermore, you husband married a very immature "woman." Shouting out on a forum that your 3rd grade teacher is ". . . the biggest b**ch . . ." is childish. How old are you anyway?

[Anonymous]

"
No, I don't think that's the case. Perhaps if you wrote clearly, people wouldn't misinterpret your message. Furthermore, you husband married a very immature "woman." Shouting out on a forum that your 3rd grade teacher is ". . . the biggest b**ch . . ." is childish. How old are you anyway?

Ouch, did I hit a sore spot? Wait - are you Mrs. Daniki?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"

No, I don't think that's the case. Perhaps if you wrote clearly, people wouldn't misinterpret your message. Furthermore, you husband married a very immature "woman." Shouting out on a forum that your 3rd grade teacher is ". . . the biggest b**ch . . ." is childish. How old are you anyway?

Ouch, did I hit a sore spot? Wait - are you Mrs. Daniki?

No, not Daniki . . .

But I can see how Mrs. Daniki would have a hard time maintaining her professionalism with you in the class.

[Anonymous]

Did anyone read the New Yorker article on the idea that ONE good teacher could teach a large class better than a sub-par teacher could teach a very small class? It was a much longer article, but the theory is that everyone has got it all wrong...there are intangible qualities a good teacher has that cannot be taught in college or grad school, and the article proposes that all teachers should start and then be wittled down according to class achievement, and then paid like executives. It any case, I am a parent facing school decisions and I have the unfortunate position of also having been a teacher for a long time. My bias is to private schools, but only because it is my comfort zone. I truly do believe a good teacher is a good teacher is a good teacher, but the downside to MANY public schools is that they are unioned out the ying yang, and short of gang raping students, schools CANNOT get rid of god-awful teachers. That is a frustrating experience for many a parent AND principal!

There is no short and easy answer. As long as there are schools, there will be teachers who inspire us and change our lives, and teachers who bring us to our knees, humiliate, and hurt. It is life. We made it. Our kids will too, if we pay attention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone read the New Yorker article on the idea that ONE good teacher could teach a large class better than a sub-par teacher could teach a very small class? It was a much longer article, but the theory is that everyone has got it all wrong...there are intangible qualities a good teacher has that cannot be taught in college or grad school, and the article proposes that all teachers should start and then be wittled down according to class achievement, and then paid like executives. It any case, I am a parent facing school decisions and I have the unfortunate position of also having been a teacher for a long time. My bias is to private schools, but only because it is my comfort zone. I truly do believe a good teacher is a good teacher is a good teacher, but the downside to MANY public schools is that they are unioned out the ying yang, and short of gang raping students, schools CANNOT get rid of god-awful teachers. That is a frustrating experience for many a parent AND principal!

There is no short and easy answer. As long as there are schools, there will be teachers who inspire us and change our lives, and teachers who bring us to our knees, humiliate, and hurt. It is life. We made it. Our kids will too, if we pay attention.

Yes, it is true, but in case the teacher is poor, smaller classes are better since the child engages more.

[Anonymous]

This is not a yes or no question. Luck of the draw. Too many factors come into play.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You do realize that teachers can also be also be parents at the same time, right?

Well of course I do realize that and as I asked, please no teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've never worked in a private school, but working in public schools isn't easy. I've always sent my children to private school, just because I *know* how the public school can be.


A lot of private school teaches end up working in a private school after having the hassle of public school. They find the students more disciplined, the parents more caring, and the administration more freedom-giving.

OP here, yes the teachers, both, were older, over 55 I'd say.