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I do know that 225 studentleft the public school system in High Point because of the lottery choice plan and the swapping plans. The parents have taken their volunteer hours, smart children and monetary donations with them to private schools. But don't worry the gap is decreasing because you are losing the top of the bell curve.

Private school works good for some children. Others it is a disaster. If your child can remain in the top of the class in the private school, you should be ok. However, if your child is in the bottom half of the class at private school but was in the top 1/3rd in public school, your child may be worse off. It also matters how much money mom and dad has. If you have a lot, private school may be the right thing. If you have modest resources, it may be tougher in private school. John Edwards son was making fun of a fellow student's shoes that were bought at Walmart. It is not piece of cake.

Joe,

How is it that students going to private school are worse off, even if they are in the bottom 1/2? If the private school does a better job of educating, then the student actually may be learning more. Being in the top 1/3 in public school may not be an indicator that the student got a better education than if they are in the bottom 1/2 of the private school. It's all relative.

Is John Edwards' son attending private school? I would think that being the populist that he portrays himself to be, he'd send his children to public school.

Morgan,

Will you clarify what the poll actually measured? You said that 43% of the people polled said that public education in the state was going in the right direction. Does that mean that they were satisfied with the job being done? "Going in the right direction" could mean many different things. Poll results can be very misleading, if you don't know what questions were asked, and how the poll population was selected. Until we know some of the specifics of the poll, it is difficult to really evaluate the roll results.

Life is unfair. The fact is that students that get in and complete their educations at highly competitive colleges have a leg up on those that don't. Schools like UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke don't take kids from the bottom half of the class. This is a fact even though the child in the bottom half of the class at a private school may have learned more that a person in the top 10% of a public school. I am not against private school education, however my children would not have accomplished more there than in public education. I want my children to go to school with a cross section of students from all walks of life. A suburban public school may come closer to doing that than a private school. If this was not the case, why is so many private school students returning to public schools at the 9th grade level?

Joe, I don't buy for one second that it's better to receive an inferior education and be ranked higher in your class than to have a lower class rank at a better school. Which prepares a student better for college - or for life?

As for competitive colleges and such, I think many parents and students put far too much emphasis on this. Students should attend the college that suits their needs best, not which one has the fanciest name. Orson Scott Card wrote a great column about this sort of thing in this week's Rhino.

In an ideal world you are right. But if you child is going into a field that requires an advanced degree, the undergraduate college is important. It open doors. Only 60% of the students that go to UNC Chapel Hill graduate in 4 years. Some colleges have a 20% graduation rate. Do you want your children surrounded by students that are going to quit? You have no problem talking about good and bad public schools. It is the same in college, there are good and bad. There is no difference.

Why do so many return to public school at the 9th grade level?

One reason is some private schools only go through the 8th grade.

I can tell you that at Pilot, Jamestown Middle and Ragsdale, for instance, children go to Pilot then to private for middle school because of the reputation of Jamestown Middle, then return to Ragsdale in the 9th grade.

One other problem is that we are losing our good teachers to private schools because of discipline and lack of respect issues. We are also losing them to surrounding counties.

Joe,

No matter what the college perhaps too many children are pushed into college who should be going to trade schools for auto mechanics, medical assistants, electricians. We need these jobs in society too.

There are many reasons students don't graduate in four years at all colleges: adjusting to college life without mommy and daddy there, partying, not knowing what they want to do, selecting the wrong major.

I do agree that colleges with a fine reputation for higher learning do open many doors because of the networking connections, alumni and monetary contribution to these schools. But on the other hand, there are many successful people who have gone to an average college. It depends on the particular individual and other factors like great social skills "street smarts", drive and determination.

Stormy,

I added the link to the actual poll above so you can see the questions, methodology, etc.

They don't qualify what "going in the right direction" means. That was just one of the options that participants could choose on the status of public schools in North Carolina.

Jennifer,

Thank you for posting the details on the poll. It did answer most of my questions about the poll itself.

Joe, the colleges with the big reputations aren't always the best colleges for everyone. Many students would do better at, say, Greensboro College, where the classes are smaller, than they would at a huge school like UNC.

And when you get out into the real world, the name on your diploma can only carry you so far. It's what you can do that matters.

I would rather see students get a good education - an education that is appropriate for them - than pursue some "keeping up with the Joneses" status symbol.

I agree. I want my children to go to college where they thrive. I also want them to graduate. I want them to be surrounded by purpose driven students. I want them to go to school away from home so they can learn to be on their on. If I am paying for their school, I want them to treat it like a job.

For the record, 90% of the graduates of Wesleyan, a private school in High Point, are accepted to their first choice of colleges.

FTR,
I would hope so too. What are the numbers on public schools? COuld you proe that the chances would be less?

Compared to most Europeans and Japanese secondary-level schools, ALL U.S. public and private high schools offer "inferior educations". The main killer of real academic rigor? Sports fanatcism. Followed closely by every other form of social club nonsense. In the classrooms, teachers spend so much time teaching to standardized tests, students never get to any depth in their subjects. And the sheer number of courses taken pales beside some places, like Germany, where the average college-bound student takes thirteen+ separate subjects PER WEEK. These are skewed heavily toward langauge arts, maths and sciences.

Freddy,
Who tells you this? I am from Europe. I studied 8 subjects per week for the year from 11 to 16. Then from 16 to 18 I studied 3.

I have known many Europeans come over here with their children and they have found it very difficult.

Please explain where you get your info from?

I now have a daughter taking AP classes at the moment when I compare with her cousins in Europe she is NO WAY behind. I think she is better off. By the way. I am a teacher.

German professor at the college where I teach; I audit her courses.
She stays on top of trends there, and spent a year studying for her master's there years ago. I will ask her where I can find the information and share it.

"The gymnasium is one of the tracks a student could go to after primary school. This school prepares students to enter a university. The gymnasium goes for eight years or from the 5th through 13th grades. Here students learn subjects like German, math, physics, chemistry, geography, biology, art, PE, religion and history. They are also required to learn two foreign languages. (One has to be English) In the 13th grade students prepare for the Abitur. This is an examination that you have to pass in order to go on to a university." (http://library.thinkquest.org/26576/gymnasiumpage.htm)

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