For my Civic Issues Blog, I will be focusing on the differences between public and private high schools and I am going to be comparing the differences in how education works in both scenarios. I will also be looking into how these two different ideas of education can improve and how they can better help the success of their students. 

 

For my first of three Civic Issue Blogs, I am going to be diving into the successes, failures, and disparities of public schools in the United States. 

 

When you think of a high school, the first thing you might think of is the hallways or high school musical. You could think about your own personal experience going through those wild four years. It doesn’t matter which type of high school you went to, public, private, or homeschooled, you will have both good and bad opinions on public high schools in the United States. Right now, I want to think of the successes. 

 

Whether you liked your time at your public high school or not, you have to agree that it did have some upsides to it. The first one that I want to highlight is that public high schools always bring in a diverse group of people into their classrooms. Because there is no price to pay to go to public school, besides taxes, anyone can attend and become educated by the thousands of public schools in our nation. According to an article by Drexel University, it is extremely important for students to experience diversity in their classrooms. This is because the students are exposed to a wide variety of stories, upbringings, and experiences. This leads to a greater appreciation and understanding of the world around you. 

 

Another positive about public high schools is that there are so many of them and that everyone has access to them. Everyone can be educated so it is essential that there are thousands of high schools for everyone to attend. 

 

A third upside to the thousands of public high schools is that they are extremely cost-effective. There are no barriers to entry for these children and these families do not have to jump through any hurdles just to send their children to school. While yes, people do pay taxes to fund these schools, there are not really any major out-of-pocket costs that coincide with attending a public high school.

 

I also want to highlight the shortcomings of public schools. The major thing that I could think of is that they are severely underfunded. The vast majority of the funding that these schools receive is from the towns that they are in, and most of the time, they do not receive enough money to prosper, so they do what they can to survive. This leads to teachers, the most important people in the world, being severely underpaid and not compensated correctly for all the time and effort that they put into their job. The lack of money that these schools receive doesn’t just affect the teachers, the students are also affected. These students can often have old equipment and textbooks. I know in my town, the ceilings were falling apart in the public school. The lack of funds can really deteriorate a student’s enjoyment of their education as a whole.

 

Another shortcoming of these public schools is that there can often be too many students for what these schools can fit. According to a study by Statista, the number of students enrolled in public high schools has been increasing since 1965. A lot of public schools have not been rebuilt and expanded recently to support the increase of students attending these schools. This is often because of a lack of funding by the town and state. Because there is a growing number of students in a space that is not meant for that number, there are often packed classrooms and overcrowded lunchrooms. These schools are being pushed to their limits when it comes to the amount of students in their halls.

 

The final thing that I want to highlight in my analysis of public high schools in America is that there are massive disparities in the thousands of public schools across the country. Some of these public schools have state-of-the-art facilities, the best educators, the best classes, and the best placement in colleges. On the other hand, some of the public schools have classrooms that are falling apart, teachers who are leaving because they are barely being paid, and schools that have very low graduation rates and low rates of students going to college. These disparities in public schools are because of where these schools are located. If they are in a nicer, upper-class, city or town, the school’s funding will be higher, therefore they can afford the best of the best for their students. While if a school is placed in a low-income area, the little amount of money that they are given is barely enough to cover their costs of operation so they can not afford to spend it on their teachers or students. The disparities in public schools are all because of a lack of funding that is given to them. The two shortcomings that I discussed earlier in this blog are also because of a lack of funding. 

 

There are also massive disparities when it comes to the rate at which students move on and go to college. While some of this can be from a lack of money, some schools just do not have the foundation needed to send their students off to college. It is not the focus of some schools. These schools believe that the success of their students only matters in high school when in reality it is much larger than that. 

 

Public high schools usually do the best that they can for their students, but there are some shortcomings and disparities that can be addressed and fixed by the administrators. 

 

Works Cited

 

“The Importance of Multicultural Education.” School of Education, drexel.edu/soe/resources/student-teaching/advice/importance-of-cultural-diversity-in-classroom/. Accessed 20 Feb. 2024. 

Korhonen, Veera. “High School Enrollment in the U.S. 2031.” Statista, 10 Oct. 2023, www.statista.com/statistics/183996/us-high-school-enrollment-in-public-and-private-institutions/#:~:text=High%20school%20enrollment%20in%20public%20and%20private%20institutions%20U.S.%201965%2D2031&text=In%202021%2C%20about%201.5%20million,States%2C%20at%2015.4%20million%20students.