What Parents Get Wrong When Comparing Private and Public Schools

The choice between public and private schools is considerably more complicated than many parents first understand. Too often, parents go in with the assumption that private means better by default. The data points in a very different direction.

Instead of considering which option is better in an objective context, it’s important to look at subjective considerations that will ultimately have a much bigger influence on fit quality.

In this article, we take a look at what most parents get wrong when considering the difference between private and public schools.

Overview: Why Private School Is Not Definitively Better

Maybe it’s the price tag that gives parents the wrong idea. After all, if you’re going to spend $10,000+ per year per student, then you must surely be getting something good for your money, right? Not necessarily.

Private schools often have fewer resources than public schools. Some of these resources are tangible—for example, it’s not at all uncommon for a mid-level parochial school to lack even basic technological infrastructure that has been present in public schools for decades.

There can also be personnel-related deficiencies. For example, many private schools don’t have psychologists, social workers, speech-language pathologists, or even school counselors.

What your money generally buys you is exclusivity and environmental conditions that often tilt statistics in favor of private schools, at least in regard to testing. What do we mean by this?

Most students attending private schools come from higher-income households with more significant levels of parental involvement. Both income and parental attention are major drivers of academic success. It naturally follows that students in a private school setting will often test a bit higher on average than students in the public school setting.

It’s not that private school is better or that its students are inherently more capable—it’s that a higher percentage of students in that environment already meet the background conditions that are predictive of academic achievement.

You can help secure similar outcomes for your own student not by enrolling them in private school, but by taking a more active role in their education.

That’s also not to talk you out of private school options, however. It’s simply to contextualize results. There are good reasons to consider private school—they’re just not always easy to measure.

Are Private Schools Safer and More Supportive?

Assessing student safety is admittedly difficult in that it’s not always easy to have a complete idea of what takes place in a school without first-hand experience. Rates of disciplinary incidents are not typically publicly available in either scenario. That said, studies indicate little difference between the safety of public versus private schools, particularly at a school-wide level.

Again, the most common indicators of at-risk students are not the school itself, but social factors, household income, and parental involvement.

In terms of support, the numbers are actually a little clearer, and they tend to favor public schools, where student-to-instructor ratios are sometimes superior—particularly when paraprofessionals and specialists are added to the tally. Granted, this factor is a little more volatile and will be very district-dependent. Some school districts in the public sector do have very out-of-whack personnel-to-pupil ratios.

That said, the number has been trending in the right direction for many years now. In the 1950s, the student-instructor ratio in public schools was nearly 30 to 1. Now it’s closer to 15 to 1, even in public schools.

It’s very possible in both environments for students to receive more individualized attention. And in some public schools, the support value is arguably better because they have more resources designed to engage students.

Stop Focusing on School Type

Arguably the biggest mistake that parents deciding between private and public schools can make is to focus on the category of the school over its specific value offerings. Don’t view it as a contest between private and public, but instead, this school versus that school.

It’s very possible that a private school will have more of what you’re looking for. None of what we’ve said to this point is anti-private education, but merely reflective of the fact that many people underestimate the resources in public education.

You have to keep in mind that the quality of instruction between two options is nearly identical. It’s not that private schools get better teachers. In fact, many of their positions are actually slightly less competitive because they tend to offer lower compensation.

The only reason to prioritize private education simply for the fact that it is private is in the case of parents who are looking to provide their children with a religious education. Catholic schools remain the most prominent private education option in the country. This owes to a combination of factors, including the fact that parochial schools are more affordable than secular forms of private education.

In all cases, however, they are considerably more expensive than the free public school option.

Which Option Is Right For You?

Deciding between private and public school is ultimately a very personalized choice, not to be taken lightly. If you are struggling to decide, consider arranging to meet with the principals at all of the schools available to you. They should be able to answer questions, address concerns, and so on.

Ask them not just about testing scores, which can paint an incomplete picture of a school’s quality, but also about student-to-teacher ratios, social resources, clubs, and extracurriculars. These factors will have a much bigger overall influence on your child’s experience.

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Guest Author Bio
Sarah Daren

With a Bachelor’s in Health Science along with an MBA, Sarah Daren has a wealth of knowledge within both the health and business sectors. Her expertise in scaling and identifying ways tech can improve the lives of others has led Sarah to be a consultant for a number of startup businesses, most prominently in the wellness industry, wearable technology and health education. She implements her health knowledge into every aspect of her life with a focus on making America a healthier and safer place for future generations to come.