As a parent, one of the most important decisions that you’ll make for your child is regarding the question of how they should be educated. You’ll always have two options: public school or private school.
Although the vast majority of parents choose public school without thinking twice, the truth is that the decision does in fact merit significant thought. To make an informed decision, it’s important to understand the difference between public and private schools so that you know the pros and cons of each.
In this article, we’ll explain exactly that so that you can make the best possible decision for your child.
Pros and Cons of Public School
When it comes to public school, there are certainly lots of advantages to consider. First and foremost, the fact that so many people go to public school results in more opportunities for your children.
Because public schools are so big, they will typically have more fleshed out competitive sports, bigger facilities, and the like. This enables your child to get access to a wider scope of extracurricular activities than they may get with a private school.
In addition, because public schools are tied to a particular district, your child will be able to share in the community pride that is part and parcel of going to a public school.
Last but not least, public school is affordable since you already pay for it with your property taxes.
However, all these pros do not mean that public school is without its disadvantages. For one, the quality of education that public schools offer is generally far below that of private schools. In addition, because there are so many students, there are few staff resources per student to guide and nurture your child.
Pros and Cons of Private School
Private school offers a very different experience to public school. Firstly, private schools typically focus on quality over quantity. So while every possible sport under the sun may not be available as an extracurricular activity, chances are that the sports that school does play are ones they are very good at.
In addition, because of the limited number of students who attend, there are typically far more resources available to students. This results in a higher quality of education as well as a more significant feed into top-tier higher education institutions from the best private schools.
The cons of a private school are twofold. Firstly, they’re quite expensive. But secondly, your child will also live and grow up in a world where everyone around them is wealthy and may not have a good understanding of the value of money. If this is a value that you want to impart to your child, it will be more difficult to do so in the private school environment.
Understand the Difference Between Public and Private School
There you have it. Equipped with this guide to the difference between public and private school options, you should now be far better informed as to which one is the right option for your child.
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