Reply to what do you say to neighbors about why you are choosing private vs the local public?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
If you withdraw your child from a particular public school because you do not like it, that doesn't improve the public school. In fact, it might make that public school worse, because you no longer have any incentive to work to improve that public school.
[/quote]

[b]I'm not willing to sacrifice my child on the altar of good intentions.[/b] I had to withdraw my child from public school because of an abusive teacher. I attempted to rectify the situation and learned that the public school administration wasn't interested in providing a safe place for children to learn. It meant more to them to protect their abusive teacher.

If the public schools were actually interested in parental involvement and improving the environment for children, it might be worthwhile to stick around. As it stands, the relationship is entirely one-sided and the only power I had as a parent was to pull my child and make alternate arrangements for his education.[/quote]

And I wouldn't ask you to.  Of course you should make the decision based on what's best for your child.

It's the difference between "I'm going to do what's best for my child, which may or may not be what's best for society" (you) and "What's best for my child is also best for society (and society should be grateful)" (the "school choice is good!" PP).[/quote]

One of the benefits of school choice could potentially be schools that have to pay more attention to parents. Where I live, public schools are essentially a monopoly. I am assigned to an elem-middle-high and that's the set of schools my child will attend. When my child runs into an abusive teacher, there is no recourse. The administration functions to protect the teacher. I cannot "make" the administration switch my child to a different class. I cannot move my child to a different public school. I cannot even run for the school board to advocate for change.

If there were school choice, perhaps schools would have to pay attention to parents and children who are dissatisfied with the educational environment. Perhaps the school board would actually have to pay attention not just to the admin and teachers, but to the children who are at the mercy of the system for hours every day.

Currently, only those of us with extra money or time can pretend to have school choice in the form of opting for private or home schooling. The local publics have a captive audience and guaranteed income and they know it. Sometimes, the best thing to do for society IS to opt out of a corrupt and broken system. (I admit the experience I had may be influencing my extreme distaste for the public school situation in my area. I never anticipated sending my children to anything but public school.)[/quote]

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