Slide 9

Public and private schools have differences in funding, curriculum, enrollment, and decision-making processes. Public schools are funded by the government and offer a baseline education to all children in the area, while private schools are typically run by individuals or organizations and can focus on specific values or beliefs. Public schools have stricter guidelines and higher teacher salaries, while private schools rely on tuition and may have limited resources. Licensure requirements for teachers may also differ. Overall, both types of schools provide different educational experiences and have their own set of guidelines. As we continue to explore the rights and responsibilities of educators, I would be remiss if I didn't draw your attention to the fact that there absolutely is a difference between teaching in the public schools and teaching in private institutions. And for many parents, there will be no decision thought over more than where to send their children to school. For some, public schools make the most sense for a variety of reasons, from proximity to their home, to financial constraints, to support services. Yet there are other times when the public option may not offer what parents are looking for in a school. And in those times, they usually seek out private schools. For many families, public schools are often just the default option. The majority of students do attend public schools for myriad reasons, but since the onset of the COVID virus, there has been some increased transparency into public education, even some scrutiny if we're honest, and we have seen a bump in private school enrollments. So we know that public schools are funded by our local, state, and federal governments, and they're designed to offer that baseline education to all children within their area. Public schools also typically start at kindergarten, but some do offer preschool or other early childhood programs, and all children within the school's district are eligible to attend and do so tuition-free. We discussed how the State Department of Ed was responsible for determining the curriculum that appears in our public schools. They are also privy to a lot of the state tests so that both our federal, state, and local governments can make discrepant and data-informed decisions on how to best proceed in the future based on results from the past. While a public school is run by government agencies, a private school is typically run by a private individual or possibly an organization, sometimes a religious organization. Private schools offer curriculum that could be focused on the specific values of the school, as mentioned, religion, or belief in certain theories of education. A private school's student population is typically composed of children without regard to their attendance area, and while public schools must allow all children within their district to attend, conversely, not every child may be enrolled in a private school for myriad reasons. Public and private schools have their own established set of guidelines that they can implement. Therefore, they can independently determine who and who will not be allowed to enroll in their school. Beyond these definitional differences, public and private schools offer children just different educational experiences. Some children may thrive in one environment over the other. Public schools often provide an education based on guidelines, as we said, that are set up by a local school board, state government, with federal funding requirements. On the other hand, a private school generally has a little bit greater leeway and nimbleness in the decision-making process. One item of note is that public schools typically afford teachers higher salaries than private schools, but not always. Many of the funding for private schools is exactly that. It is based on the tuition. There is no government subsidies that are offered, and therefore, resources can sometimes be limited. Additionally, your licensure requirements for teachers or instructors are not as stringent as those within the public schools because, again, of that quality oversight that the government, especially the State Department of Ed Institutes, this is just one of the guiding parameters they have in place to ensure that all students are guaranteed a quality education.