Who's Choice is it Anyway?

As long as we have the right to choose in this country parents will have the ability to home school their children, pay expensive tuition or enroll their child in the public school system. That's what our country is about. Choices, laws, rules and regulations...education is a major sector in our society that is affected by all four. In Jessica Shyu's article "New Terrain", she referred to the example of the Obamas when they were deciding where to send their daughters to school once living in D.C.. Shyu said the public had no right to judge the family's decision on public vs. private schooling for the girls. I interpreted her statement as, "Decisions based on schooling for your child is private and outer sources have no right to judge what you feel is best for your child."

My parents attended public schools but made the personal decision for me to have a Catholic education. Are we Catholic? No, however my parents felt that during my elementary and high school years, public education was not meeting the needs of its students. We lived in an area that had poor performing schools so they sacrificed financially, to provide me with the best education available. Though all schools have their own "drama" within its students, my parents felt uniforms provided structure and allowed me to focus on academics. Public schools at that time had no dress code. When students wore certain articles of clothing it was considered "gang related"...which lead into the concern of safety for my parents, when comparing Catholic and public schooling.

When answering the question "What are the purposes of public schooling?" Hess says the academic learning serves both the individual and state needs. He reminds us that "public" school components are the responsibility to teach principles, habits and obligations of citizenship. Previously we've discussed the school's role in character education. We agreed, for the majority, that a great teacher will teach these lessons indirectly to students anyway. These components should be apart of any school, public, private, charter or Catholic. As adults, we have an obligation to the children in society, to teach and lead them, in an effort to create civilized members for our communities. Education is something that should be valued, experienced and accessible to everyone. All schools provide that basic concept but the reality is that not all schools deliver the best quality.

In Mary's presentation, we learned that Catholic education was established to educate certain groups that did not have access to education (young girls, Native Americans and Africans). As time went on, schools that were religious based, included religion in their curriculum setting them aside from "public" schools that were government controlled and limited to religious avenues. Education has evolved since the beginning of the 19th century (according to Mary) that the ability to choose your child's education is another milestone for society, in my opinion. As long as funding is available for parents to send their children to Catholic or private schools and the struggle to rebuild some public institutions remains evident, I think we will always have the "public vs. private" issue.

To answer Hess' question "Who should be permitted to provide public schooling? " is confusing to be honest. Public schools are "free" for enrollment and attendance with strict control from local and state government and federal funding. Private and Catholic schools follow certain areas of federal and state laws but answer to different stakeholders on a local level. The reality is that not every school provides the same quality of education or operates effectively the same. For these reasons, it's every parent's right to choose they type of education for their child how they see fit.