Public schools in America on the way out?

[Reaganfan]

From someone who graduated from a Charter High School (although I was in public school from Preschool until finishing Freshman Year), it seems to me as if a number of factors are making it seem as though public schools in this country are on the way out.

It seems as of late a number of things have begun to impact the school system morale, and not just in the United States:

- School shootings
- Sex scandals with teachers and students
- Low morale
- Many students with suffering grades
- Lack of disciplinary skill in schools
- Reluctance for funding, bus levy taxes, ect.

I also run into many, many young people (15-18 years old) going to "Online" High School, and at the time I began doing it (September 2004), it almost seemed that I was the only one doing it and nobody had heard of it. Now I heard of a bunch of different kinds in my state alone, college courses online, ect.

So are public schools in America on the way out?

[I left.]

Short answer: No

[Jacobtm]

It is true that public education is under attack from many angles, and ultimately many places have been downsizing.

It's really a shame, since like all this stuff, it hits the poorest and most vulnerable populations the hardest.

[krazen1211]

- Reluctance for funding, bus levy taxes, ect.

Reluctance for funding? Public schools are funded at historical records!

Education
Fiscal Years 1960 to 2017


1960   526.4   3.69   a
1961   544.8   3.89   a
1962   585.7   3.89   a
1963   617.8   3.98   a
1964   663.6   4.10   a
1965   719.1   4.15   a
1966   787.7   4.51   a
1967   832.4   4.97   a
1968   909.8   4.95   a
1969   984.4   5.18   a
1970   1038.3   5.44   a
1971   1126.8   5.63   a
1972   1237.9   5.76   a
1973   1382.3   5.49   a
1974   1499.5   5.43   a
1975   1637.7   5.85   a
1976   1824.6   5.88   a
1977   2030.1   5.65   a
1978   2293.8   5.54   a
1979   2562.2   5.41   a
1980   2788.1   5.45   a
1981   3126.8   5.26   a
1982   3253.2   5.16   a
1983   3534.6   5.01   a
1984   3930.9   4.82   a
1985   4217.5   4.90   a
1986   4460.1   5.04   a
1987   4736.4   5.06   a
1988   5100.4   5.03   a
1989   5482.1   5.14   i
1990   5800.5   5.26   a
1991   5992.1   5.49   a
1992   6342.3   5.48   a
1993   6667.4   5.52   a
1994   7085.2   5.27   a
1995   7414.7   5.46   a
1996   7838.5   5.37   a
1997   8270.46   5.35   a
1998   8727.02   5.43   a
1999   9286.86   5.43   a
2000   9884.17   5.49   a
2001   10218   5.69   i
2002   10572.4   5.91   a
2003   11067.8   5.98   i
2004   11788.9   5.86   a
2005   12554.5   5.81   a
2006   13310.9   5.92   a
2007   13969.3   5.77   a
2008   14270.5   6.01   a
2009   14014.8   6.16   a
2010   14551.8   6.19   e

[Progressive Realist]

....

No.

[memphis]

Republicans do seem to prefer not to send their children there, prefering schools of religious indoctrination instead. I don't see how public schools could end though. Nobody wants undirected juveniles wandering the streets.

[© Tweed the Younger]

no, but increasingly the ruling class is being drawn from the ranks of the privately educated from almost birth.  this trend will continue.

[Jacobtm]

no, but increasingly the ruling class is being drawn from the ranks of the privately educated from almost birth.  this trend will continue.

Not always true.

There are many small wealthy communities where everyone goes to public school, because the school is so well funded from local tax money and the community isn't large, the public school can be just as good as an elite private school. Obviously it's easy for a bunch of rich kids in small classes in communities where they are all pushed for academic excellence to excel.

[© Tweed the Younger]

kind of a petty distinction to make if you're remaining within my general line of argument

[Swedish Cheese]

No, but keep dreaming.

[Jacobtm]

kind of a petty distinction to make if you're remaining within my general line of argument

You're right. As far as the rich controlling everything, it doesn't much matter if Mr. CEO went to a public or private highschool.

The point though is that, at least if the rich have their own quality public schools, they're not dropping out of the system of public schooling, and they're not abandoning the idea of public schooling.

It provides a nice model, that with enough resources, public schooling can of course be of excellent quality.

[CultureKing]

no, but increasingly the ruling class is being drawn from the ranks of the privately educated from almost birth.  this trend will continue.

This one. I went to public school until arriving at a private university and was shocked to see the extent to which many private schooled kids were kept within a fortified bubble. To me the separation caused by private vs public education may be one of the most damaging aspects of American society (it re-enforces class distinctions).

[white trash heroes]

From someone who graduated from a Charter High School (although I was in public school from Preschool until finishing Freshman Year), it seems to me as if a number of factors are making it seem as though public schools in this country are on the way out.

It seems as of late a number of things have begun to impact the school system morale, and not just in the United States:

- School shootings

These are extremely rare. Only 12 to 20 homicides a year occur in the 100,000 schools in the U.S. School assaults have dropped by almost 50% since 2002. Notice how when you hear about bullying lately it tends to be more along the lines of harassment than actual violence?

- Reluctance for funding, bus levy taxes, ect.

Krazen already posted info pointing out how this obviously isn't true, but the fact is the US spends more than almost any other country per capita. Only Switzerland does. If certain voters are reluctant to spend it's because spending has increased so dramatically with little results.

[Secretary Polnut]

No, and you're turning into a parody.

[batmacumba]

Brazil made a natural transition to giving public school only to poor people at the 70's and early 80's, thanks to our conservative ditactorship, which stopped funding them properly and simply gave up managing them. The result was that poor people now receives a pitiful education, riches and high middle class receive a decent one and the middle class generally receive a bad one and even have to pay for it.

[Kevin]

no, but increasingly the ruling class is being drawn from the ranks of the privately educated from almost birth.  this trend will continue.

Not always true.

There are many small wealthy communities where everyone goes to public school, because the school is so well funded from local tax money and the community isn't large, the public school can be just as good as an elite private school. Obviously it's easy for a bunch of rich kids in small classes in communities where they are all pushed for academic excellence to excel.

Where I live in the VA and MD Washington Suburbs within most of the school districts many of the public schools are actually better than anything the private one's could offer.

For example, most of the high schools within Arlington, Fairfax, and Loudoun County VA or Montgomery/Howard Counties MD, are ranked higher or on par then most private schools in the area.

Also, the high school I actually attended was ranked in like the like the top 50 schools overall in the nation.

[Snowguy716]

No.  They're constitutionally mandated here.  But that doesn't stop republicans from trying.

[Inks.LWC Supports Chuck Hagel]

No, but the system needs reform.

[J. J.]

1989, I was elected to the school board and heard, "Public schools are on the way out."

2012, I'm reading a message board that, "Public schools are on the way out."

It is good to be old at times. 

[white trash heroes]

Brazil made a natural transition to giving public school only to poor people at the 70's and early 80's, thanks to our conservative ditactorship, which stopped funding them properly and simply gave up managing them. The result was that poor people now receives a pitiful education, riches and high middle class receive a decent one and the middle class generally receive a bad one and even have to pay for it.

I thought Brazil began significantly modernizing its schools around early 2000s? Or am I mistaken.

[batmacumba]

Brazil made a natural transition to giving public school only to poor people at the 70's and early 80's, thanks to our conservative dictatorship, which stopped funding them properly and simply gave up managing them. The result was that poor people now receives a pitiful education, riches and high middle class receive a decent one and the middle class generally receive a bad one and even have to pay for it.

I thought Brazil began significantly modernizing its schools around early 2000s? Or am I mistaken.

Educational policies are of that type on which years are spent until you're able to see improvement. Beside this, there is a division of responsibilities between the three 'power spheres', as we call it, on which the federal government is only obliged to provide superior education, the states middle education, and the municipalities primary one. This doesn't mean that they cannot provide the others, and the best high school is a federal one (even better than any of the expensive private ones) while the best university is a state one. But the bulk of the system works like that.
The federal instances are doing great, and they were able to improve the university system to its better shape ever, even after FHC and Paulo Renato de Souza's huge effort to destroy it and substitute for a profit based one.
The municipal ones... Well, I really concluded that municipalities shouldn't run them, specially after the efforts of the federal government to improve them, which seems to work, but this is not the generation that will be saved by education. The military took a decade and a half to destroy basic education, it won't be put up again so easily.
As for state level high schools, at least in my state It will be necessary to fight the huge efforts PSDB does to destroy them. I'll die without knowing what's their motivation to be so obnoxious about education. Damn it! That party was founded by professors and intellectuals, and we needed a demi-analphabet president to make something.

[Paul Kemp]

A computer at your home is a "charter high school?"

[Snowguy716]

A computer at your home is a "charter high school?"

There's something to be said about somebody who would already homeschool their children augmenting it with a strong online resource similar to an "online charter school."

But these online charter schools are nothing of that sort.  Instead, they advertise themselves as home schooling without parental involvement.  The teachers do all the work over the internet.  And that's a problem because parental involvement is a million times more important in any home-based schooling, regardless of how good the online school actually is.

[So the Heroes Fall]

LOL Naso.

[TJ in Wisco]

I highly doubt public schools are on their way out any time soon. Actually, the percentage of students in public schools compared to private schools is slightly rising.