Out of Egypt:

in re: the public school debate - this seems about right

From the Creative Capitalism blog (which Melinda linked a while back):

[C]ompanies should meet their responsibilities to pay taxes, obey regulations and so on, but governments' track records in solving social problems are severely tarnished, particularly in the developing world, as many contributors have pointed out. On the other hand, private charity is never going to be able to provide fair and equal access to education - voluntary provision was tried in Victorian Britain, for example, and only scratched the surface, despite a massive outpouring of public generosity.

I wish that that second sentence could be read by all the American evangelicals who think that we can abolish the public schools, and still give every child in this country an education.

Yes, the public schools are broken. But I have yet to be convinced that churches, parishes, or any other private institution could educate the nation's children on a national scale.

Christian schools' record on accomodating special needs students is particularly poor. And, aside from the Catholic schools, very few Christian schools reach the inner cities or minority students at all.

Homeschooling is a great option - for those who can afford it. The rest of the nation needs to have a strong school system in place, so that parents (single parents especially) can continue to do the work they need to do to support their families.

Insofar as Christians are obligated to work for the good of the social order, we ought to work for the betterment of the public school system, even if we choose not to educate our own children in it. This is, to my mind, the only position which recognizes the value of a Christian education while still allowing all access to education. We can work to make Christian education a possibility for as many families as possible. But we should not expect that we can eliminate the public school system entirely.

The public school system was created, in part, because no private institution could make universal education possible. The Catholic Church is the only one that even comes close. As far as Protestants go, we can't even coordinate our private charity efforts. What makes us think that we could run a school system?

Evan,

This was a really well-written, thoughtful post. I have a young relative who struggled in Christian school because of special learning needs. His parents were very hesitant to send him to public school, but only there could he get the therapy services that he needed. Turned out that most of his teachers were Christians, and one of his good friends was there as well. He's flourished since then. I guess this is more of an anecdote than evidence, but I think your post hits the nail on the head.

Posted by: Joanna at August 14, 2008 12:27 PM

Joanna,
Thanks for your comments!

My sister has Down's syndrome, so I've seen how the public school system has accomodated her. My sister's been in public school all along, as I was also, but I doubt that any of the Christian schools in Lancaster County would have had the services available that the IU13 (special needs/gifted program for Lancaster & Lebanon Counties) has made available.

Also, as you hinted at, many public school teachers are Christians, at least in areas like Lancaster County. It's really unreasonable to be categorically opposed to public schooling. There are definitely situations where it is legitimate for Christians to send their children to public school. Moreover, even if it were true that Christians should never send their children to public school, that doesn't mean that the system can just be scrapped. Many children, especially those who are from a low-income background, would suffer because of that.

Posted by: Evan Donovan at August 14, 2008 7:53 PM

I think low-income students get pretty much the bottom of the barrel in any situation, because most low-income students end up at low-performing public schools.

Posted by: funke at August 14, 2008 8:49 PM

"Most low-income students end up at low-performing public schools." I agree. But I don't think that the private sector could really do better, at least not overnight.

Posted by: Evan Donovan at August 15, 2008 8:09 PM