In today's society, education is a necessity for anyone wanting to earn a decent living. Without a high school diploma, and more recently a college degree, a person will probably never be financially independent enough to enjoy most of life's comforts. High school is a very important time in a student's life. It is the time when a young person begins to think independently. It is also a time when teens are very impressionable and face tons of peer pressure. That is why the environment in which a young person attends high school plays a major role in who that person will develop into. Many parents are now choosing to send their children to private schools, as opposed to public schools, with the idea that their children will receive a better education and also have a greater chance of becoming successful. These ideas, however, are not always accurate. The following paper discusses the positive and negative attributes of public and private schools and includes my personal experience with a private parochial school. .
Public education has many perks to it. The greatest is probably the access to government funds. Some, if not most, public schools have state of the art computer labs, updated and renovated facilities, brand new uniforms for the athletic teams, and much more. Academically, public schools offer more classes and educational opportunities than private schools (with the exception of the upper class elite academies), largely in part to the financial resources available to them. .
It is believed that sending one's child to a private school will insure that they receive a better education, which in turn will result in higher test scores on the ACT and SAT. This is not a true statement, however. Statistics have proven that the average scores of public high school students are higher than those of high school students attending private schools. .
Despite the numerous advantages of public schools, there are disadvantages as well.
