Late Friday afternoon, the Department of Education released a report that showed kids in public schools test about as well as kids in private schools. Folks who might actually do something with the report (the Secretary of Education, the Prez, etc.) had this to say about it:



Right. Nothing. A spokesman for the department did echo a caveat in the report, which said that because private school performance varied so much, there was only so much comparison to be made between public and private schools.

And I should hasten to add that the test scores of public schools aren't at a par with private schools. Rather, this study (and another performed by University of Illinois researchers, who came to similar conclusions) took factors such as racial, economic and social backgrounds into account and then "normed" the numbers. What these reports appear to say is that, generally, kids get the same level of education at a private or public school.

Most interesting to me is that private schools run by conservative Christian churches performed the worst (with or without norming). Interesting, but not surprising, as many of these "schools" consist of kids huddled in groups in a gymnasium, taught by teachers who have very little experience teaching (as was the case with one such "academy" in the town where I went to high school). I don't know if the generally incurious nature of the theology taught at those schools also inhibits learning, but my guess is that it can't help.

In case you are curious, schools run by Lutherans fared the best. All hail the Missouri Synod.

Of course, the truth of the matter is that high-priced prep schools (there are some here in the D.C. area--day schools, mind you, not boarding schools--with tuition approaching $30,000 a year) always score better than public schools. When you get to choose your students and when parents are paying an arm, a leg and part of the spleen in fees, chances are Billy will do alright.

Still, the notion that the education itself in public schools is on par with private schools probably surprises a lot of people. To hear people talk in my neighborhood (really liberal people, mind you, not folks born and bred into prep), one of the reasons for mom (or dad) to go back to a regular paycheck once the kids are in school is so that the family can afford to pay for that school. This strikes me as slightly insane.

Most folks in the D.C. area consider the Montgomery County (Md.) schools to be the best around. I know some folks in Virginia who would disagree, but most leaders south of the Potomac look at MoCo with admiration. The population is extremely diverse (roughly speaking, whites make up 42%, blacks 23%, Hispanics about 20% and Asians about 15% of the kids in schools), and yet both the scores and the actual post-school achievement of MoCo students are the envy of most private schools. And yet, there are plenty of white folks (and yes, in this case white folks are the only ones I've heard talking this way) who are seriously worried about sending their kids to these schools.

I don't get it. I'm the product of public education (including a state university), and I think I've done alright. Most of the people who are torn about sending their kids to public schools are themselves the products of public schools (many of them MoCo schools, even). I think it's fair to say they turned out alright, too.

One of the byproducts of the Republican "revolution" is a change in how people view government and government services (like, say, public schools). Fifty years ago, only the very wealthy (or very Catholic) sent their kids to private schools. Now there's homeschooling (which was not part of the study) in addition to these small private schools that seem to spring up overnight. I suppose the trend started with Brown v. Board of Education and enforced integration, but now that a generation has passed since black and white kids started attending school together in earnest (with no earthshaking consequences that I can recall), the move toward privatization of education is stronger than ever.

The parents I know here are (by and large) simply over-anxious folks who earnestly want to provide their children with the best of everything, including education. These kids are often (though not always) awash in toys, camps, lessons...you name it. They seem like happy enough kids. My boys have plenty of toys, get out and meet other kids most days and generally screw around...and they seem happy enough as well. Would Max have a better education at Sidwell Friends? I dunno. But I know we can't swing the $24,990 a year it would cost (for Kindergarten!). And even if we did have it, we could provide a lot more in "educational enrichment" (vacations abroad, etc.) for that cash than the school could provide above and beyond whatever we might get from the local schools. But then, I don't believe that providing a child with the best of everything is in the best interests of a child.

Now, I don't think you should sabotage your child's education. There are lots of reasons to pull your child out of even the best school, and if that became necessary then we wouldn't hesitate. But I've always maintained that the social education learned at a public school is much more important than anything you read in a book. After all, you've got a lifetime to complete your education. Half the stuff I was taught in high school turns out to have been wrong. And while having a calculus teacher who had never taken the subject herself may have inflated that figure somewhat, the truth is that truth itself changes. There may be a few absolutes, but particularly when it comes to history and science there's always something new to learn (and unlearn). You know, like whether or not Pluto is really a planet.

Or, perhaps, the fact that public schools are just as good as private schools. And when that word comes from the public school-hatin' Bush administration, there's a real chance it might even be true.

So far, Jon Worley has managed to survive the recently-announced D.C. "crime emergency." He rode the Metro at 1:30 a.m. Saturday morning and lived to tell the tale.