Private Schools -

I had the opportunity to attend both private and public schools. Have any of you thought about teaching in a private school or thought about sending your children to a private school if you have the opportunity? Thank you for sharing your insight with me!

Let's consider the following factors: Private & Public
· facilities
· class size
· compensation (salaries)
· budgets
· administrative support

Facilities
Some public school facilities are impressive; others are average. The same is true of private schools. In the public school system, the political support and economic revenues are based on critical development. In private schools the ability to attract endowments and other forms of financial support are just as critical. Private school facilities reflect the success of the school's development team and that of the school to continue to generate alumni support. Public schools also reflect their economics and location. Wealthy suburban schools will have more facilities than inner city schools as a rule.

Class Size
Based only on my evidence, I would say that the private schools win out on this issue. Why? Because one of the key points of private education is individual attention (student to teacher ratios of 15:1 or better to achieve that goal). On the other hand a public system has to take almost anyone who lives within its boundaries. In public schools you will generally find much larger class sizes, sometimes-exceeding 35-40 students in some inner city schools. So, based on class size, private schools will be better places to teach.

Compensation (salaries)
Public school teachers are generally better paid. Naturally compensation varies widely depending on the local economic situation. Public school teachers’ benefits have been excellent; however, health and pension costs have risen so dramatically since 2000 that public educators will be forced to pay or pay more for their benefits. As for private school compensation tends to be somewhat lower than public. Again, much depends on the school and its financial resources (private school pension schemes vary widely).
Again, the evidence is subjective but the overall impression I have is that public schools salaries are generally higher, most probably as a result of unionization. Unfortunately low starting salaries and small annual salary increases result in low teacher retention in many public school districts. Private school faculties are not unionized. One private school benefit is housing and meals. This makes quite a difference especially if you are housing and feeding a family. Public school teacher pensions are excellent. Private school teachers' pensions differ widely according to the resources of the institution.

Budgets
Since local property taxes support the bulk of public education, the annual school budget exercise is a serious financial and political business. In poor communities or communities which have many families living on fixed incomes, there is little room to respond to budget requests within the framework of projected tax revenue. Grants from foundations and the business community are essential to creative funding.
Private schools on the other hand can raise tuition, and they also can raise significant amounts of money from a variety of development activities, including annual appeals, development of alumni and alumnae, and grants from foundations and corporations. The strong commitment to private schools by their alumni makes the chances of fund-raising success a real possibility in most cases.

Administrative Support
The bigger the bureaucracy, the harder it is to get decisions made at all, much less get them made quickly. So, private schools, which have a lean management structure, come out ahead then public schools.
Conclusion

So, who has the better deal? The public or the private school teachers? I think that the private school teacher does because she can focus more on teaching. Private schools win in every category except salaries. That's my opinion. What do you think?

Am I also correct in saying that Private Schools are not required to hold the same standardized testing that Public schools; so teachers are more free to teach subjects in as much depth and variety as they want.

I have seriously considered teaching for a private school for the reasons that you mention here Melissa, especially teacher autonomy, or as you say, "she can focus more on teaching". I like this point-by-point comparison of private schools to public ones and have some comments about the Budget and Compensation sections.

Budget



This explanation of methods for funding private versus public schools is necessary for any teacher to understand the dynamics of "poor" versus "rich" schools. It appears that few citizens realize that property taxes are the largest source for a public school districts' budget, or that real estate markets (aka. property sales) is a determining factor in local funding for schools. Raising property values and marketing local real estate raises the funds available to public schools and, vice versa, little market in real estate coupled with expendable property values are factors that cripple school funds. That's why I find that "poor" schools -- whether merely poorly funded or performing "poorly" -- are obviously located in poor districts; the social and economic issues of the district, however, are less obvious.

Different levels of the government levee and redistribute these funds, ranging from the counties to the federal government, so I hope informed teachers can communicate to citizens (i.e. parents) the value of critically listening to politicians who advocate tax reforms or overhauling the tax system. The Ginn Company developing a resort in Watauga County is a local example of the pro's and con's of developing property versus conserving property. The development of this resort will effect the environment and public funds, such as Watauga's school budget, and I wonder if the students who picketed Mr. Ginn last week realize these effects. Watauga County's board of commissioners, many of whom are up for re-election next month, are politicians at the most local level who determine tax rates for property and, therefore, the funds available to the Watauga County board of education. These politicians, businessmen like Ginn, and the tax policies interact in ways that may, at first, sound overwhelming but it's not insurmountable; I checked out a few -- high school, nonetheless -- civics books that simply and clearly explained the tax system and ways that public school systems are funded.

Compensation

I assumed private teachers usually earn more than public teachers (although this is not my reason for considering private service) but it seems salaries depend on several factors. There is one point about compensation that I do not believe is relevant to North Carolina: unions. Aren't unions, or at least the traditional mechanisms of trade unions -- like unionized strikes --, illegal in this state? I've never heard of teachers in North Carolina going on strike ...

Honestly, I have to say that I would love to get a job in a private school. On the one hand, my upbringing makes me want to shy away from private schooling because when I was growing up, I believed in the stereotype that private school kids are "snooty" (even though I know this isn't the case). However, if I teach in a public school, I will probably be limited to high school or middle school drama. There are very few public schools that have a theatre department in grades younger than middle school. If I could get a job at a private school, there's a better chance that I could teach K-12 drama, which would be fantastic!