Public or Private High School

Often parents struggle to make a decision between public and private high schools. While a great deal of the benefits between these two programs vary by your location, there are criteria to consider outside of the location of your schools.

The Value of the Education
All education is valuable, but to determine the value of private education versus public, you have to look at the cost of the private education in regards to the overall quality. Is the private school offering you the level of competitive and instruction that you feel your child deserves and needs to meet your goals? For example, if your child is college bound, a private school should offer a higher level of coursework and rigor to be a value if the public high schools in the area are known to prepare students for college as well.

Available Public School Options
Of course, if you have only unlikely choices as public schools nearby, private schools might be your only true options for the sort of education you prefer for your child. Public schools must meet certain state standards in order to remain open with students, but for various reasons many parents feel that these schools are unacceptable for their child. If this is the case and there are simply no public schools available that meet your needs, a private school or religious school might be your only true option.

Special Needs
Parents of special needs children have additional concerns when it comes to public and private schools. These parents should do exhaustive research and field visits to determine the exact benefits the public schools have that the private schools do not. Or vice versa. If the public schools don’t have adequate resources to assist your child as necessary, a small private school, or one that specialized in cases such as your child’s is an excellent resource.

Special needs children are often part of state funded programs, however, and if they elect to not enroll in a public school they might opt out of the state funded benefits. The state and federal government offers many protections and benefits for children with special needs. These programs should be implemented in any school you choose to enroll your child in, but chances are slightly better for a full program in a public school that relies on and is audited by the state in regard to how those funds are used than a private school that is often sheltered from government intervention.