A. Background: Increase in education reform.
B. Thesis: Private schools are comparable to public schools, and they continue to undermine public education and put low-income and minority students at risk.
A. Private versus public school outcomes is comparable.
B. Private schools have a distinct economic advantage over public schools.
C. Private schools siphon resources from public education.
D. Private school demographics favor whites and the wealthy.
E. Private schools increase segregation of education.
F. Traditional paradigms of public education continue to impact public opinion of public schools.
G. There is increased parental support for public school education.
A. John DeweyÆs goal of public education.
B. Future educational reform. Introduction
Education reform has become a hotly debated and contentious issue in American society. Policymakers maintain such reform is sorely needed in American public education, particularly due to poor performance on standardized tests by American students ôon international test comparisonsö (Good 385). Such alarm has led to increasing reliance on standardized tests, to mandatory high school exit exams, and to a variety of other requirements based on the Bush AdministrationÆs No Child Left Behind Policy.
Of all the reforms implemented, none continues to cause the contention of public versus private schools. Those in favor of private schools argue private school students ôoutperformö their public school peers with respect to ôstandardized test scores, graduation rates, and the probability of attending collegeö (Goldhaber 143). Others argue that private schools are more cost-effective than public schools, operating without the ôbloated bureaucracyö and ôrigid set of rulesö imposed on public schools (Goldhaber 143). Private schools generally take the form of either ôcharterö schools or involve ôvouchers,ö which parents can use to offs...