It sounds like a lot of parents here want to send their children to public schools because they themselves went to public schools and don't want to feel that their own opportunities were inferior to the ones their children had.

There's one good reason to send your kids to public school: because you can get as good or better education there for free, as opposed to paying lots of money for a private school. That's it. We need to stop dressing up choosing public schools with all of these pseudo-reasons like how it represents "investment in your community" or because you "believe in public schools" or because you need to "prove" that it's just as good.

There is no such thing as a "public school kid" as opposed to a "private school kid." The goal is ensuring your children become learned, educated, thoughtful people, and that will happen wherever you send you children, assuming you make the right choice, whether that is a private or public school.

From the article, Sandra Tsing Loh:

the generation before us, those dreaded baby boomers, they swiped the Visa and left nothing behind. It was like strip mining. They took what they could and left nothing for the rest. Not that I blame the boomers, but why not? Let's blame them! They stopped the war, then they worked at corporations, and they were done -- and they still think they've saved the world. But in terms of public education, many of them left a blasted landscape behind.

According to the article, Ms. Loh is 46. By my calculations, that puts her birth date at either 1962 or 1961.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_boomers

She is a Baby Boomer.

What up?

I spent many miserable years in a public suburban high school, and switched to a private school for the arts halfway through sophomore year. It was a much better experience. The kids were more interesting, creative, experimental, and fun. As adults, the kids from both schools are doing well... the end result was the same. But what a difference in the journey!

I taught a few years, and I'm not convinced that schools are a good idea. Private schools, if you find one compatible with your child (there are so many types, I wouldn't break them down into "good" or "bad", it's about fit not random criteria) are infinitely better, but in general, I'm not sure what is to be gained by forcing study subjects that they don't care about or have aptitude for, when their time would be better spent pursuing something they love to do. I agree basic arithmetic and being able to read and write is important, but beyond that, why not let students study what they are good at and enjoy?

The problem with public schools, and with many private schools, is the cookie-cutter methods they use for teaching. Students need more individual help than one can give them... hence the need for after school tutors. (Not just a suburban thing, I've driven through the ghetto and seen plenty of 'em). Teachers can't give students the individual help they need.

I really want to home school my kids. For most of history, those who could did exactly that, and produced brilliant minds. I think schools should be around for those who can't homeschool, but as a secondary choice.

Sighhh...

See? It's this. PLENTY of public schools have good class sizes and student-teacher ratios.

The notion that the public schools are a wasteland across the board is what keeps many parents from even looking at the school on their block.

Tell her that she can find her child at Salon writing for Joan Walsh.

Living in Westchester County, New York, I have felt tremendous pressure to send my kid to private school or watch him end up with no future prospects...none! But as a product of public school myself, I felt a greater pressure to stick it out, to prove that excellent public school educations could be had, even if as a parent I would have to work a little harder to make sure that happened.

My son is now 17, about to enter his senior year of public high school. Here's what I can tell you: I had to work WAY harder to be sure he got the education he deserved than I would have if I'd swiped my Visa instead. And he had to work his butt off too, being an aggressive, vigilant advocate for his own education. But guess what? It was a priceless effort for both of us.

Sure, I'd like to strangle the superintendent of our school district for being an ass-covering idiot who'd rather keep bailing water out of the leaky boat by the thimbleful than fix the damn boat. Yes, my son shouldn't have had to collect names on a petition so he could take Latin (the course was dropped anyway) or slog through junior year English with a teacher who can't spell. And don't get me started on the ATROCIOUS lack of leadership evidenced by the majority of half naked students who speak to each other like convicts and porn stars. A day does not go by that I don't think, "Where are the grownups? Whatever happened to detention?"

Still. Being a public school warrior has given my son a stake in his future that he wouldn't have had if he'd gone the Cadillac route. He takes nothing for granted and he knows how to negotiate, barter, finagle and finesse to get where he wants to go....great street skills I reckon they don't teach in those fancy private schools he didn't attend. And even though I have felt like Sisyphus on many more than half of the 4745 days my son will have spent in this public school system, I'd do it all again. Let's just call it a character-building experience for him AND for me....on an epic scale.

The boom in charter schools in urban areas will prove that public education can be rehabilitated and reinvented. And if the market system could somehow similarly bear down on suburban and rural schools, we could be talking about a whole new ballgame in public education. Now THAT would be something.