Public Education is Better for Society than Private Education

Ok, sorry for the confusion with sources two and three in my last argument. Here they are: (2) http://nces.ed.gov... (3) http://eagnews.org... I'm sorry for that confusion, there was probably an issue when transfering it from text to rich text. These sources are not gonna be used for this part in the debate directly, so i'll just continue my numbers starting at four starting here. There are many issues with your argument, and I will point those out. First off, you said: "My opponent"s source cites that there are 13% of people whose income are over $750 000 who attend private schools." If you look at the chart, it shows that about 13% of families with an income of $75,000 send their kids to private schools, so that throws your statistics off a bit. Also, pro states that richer students tend to do better than poorer students. That is true, but one factor could be that more richer kids go to private schools than poorer kids, and that creates a circular argument. Also, the rich see their parent's success in life, and they aspire to that. The poor, who don't see that success from their parents, may not know what it feels like to succeed. Pro says "Again, I will reiterate that generally, the pay and welfare many public school teachers receive is greater than private school teachers." Yes, that is true. But the reason for that is not quality difference. Private schools have less jobs to fill (4) and because of the law of supply and demand, this means there will be naturally lower pay. They don't have as many regulations, and therefore they can charge less. Also, a teacher that gets paid less can actually be better because of the reason they're doing it. They aren't doing it as much for the moeny, but they actually care about their kids, and therefore they are willing to take less money to do their job (4). As I also said, teachers who teach at a religious school already have a connection with the kids. The reason private school teachers get paid less is not because they are worse, it's because they are willing to take less money to do their job the way that they think it should be done. Also, private schools look for different things in teachers. For example, let's say a school is looking for a spanish teacher. A public school would generally hire someone with an education degree and a minor in spanish. They wouldn't know the spanish language as well, but they would be able to handle a 35-40 kid classroom that some public schools have more effectively. A private school generally goes for a teacher with a major in spanish and a minor in possibly literature. That teacher would be far more equipped with the ability to teach spanish, but they wouldn't have to handle the 35-40 kid class because that doesn't happen in a private school. Therefore, the private school mindset in hiring teachers would naturally generate teachers that do the real job of a teacher. That job is teaching kids, and a public school would get teachers that sometimes have to do some babysitting of the kids (5). Pro said: "Thus it cannot be argued that students do better on the SAT are better academically than those who do not." If that's the case, then did you look at the chart I gave based on proficiency in different subjects? The private school kids did a lot better. We are not debating that only one is good for society. Read the title to the debate. It says "Public Education is Better for Society than Private Education". We are debating whether that statement is true or not. I think private schools are needed in society and are better than public schools, but I'm not arguing to abolish public schools. Like I've said, private schools give the flexibility to send a kid to a situation with less kids which gives him or her more attention from the teacher. Private schools also have more parent involvement and less regulations because they are private (6). It's like going to a local diner or going to McDonalds. McDonalds is going to be cheaper, but the local diner is probably going to have better food, shorter lines, and it's going to be a more friendly atmosphere. In the same way, public schools are cheaper, but they have less teacher attention to each student, they have bigger class sizes, and they have more bullying and teasing. Some parents just don't want their kids in the public school atmosphere and private schools give them the options. The parent involvement factor is actually a big issue in public schools. 25% of public school teachers said that the lack of parent involvement is an issue at their school, and for private schools this was 4% (7). Principals at public schools were asked the same thing, and parent involvement was almost as big of an issue at the school as poverty (14.5% versus 14.9%). There's much more weapon possession, alchohal use, and drug use at public schools, and some parents just want their kids out of that atmosphere, and their willing to pay big money to do so. A reason that private school parents are so involved is because they do pay for the school, and if their kids aren't doing the best they can, then it's not worth it. I'd predict that if two families were compared, this would be shown. If one family sent their kids to a private school, those kids would be more prepared for college because the parents would feel obligated to get involved, the kid would feel guilted into working harder because of how much of a sacrifice it is to go there, and the public school kid wouldn't be as prepared for college. Private schools provide that kind of benefit. (4) http://www.theatlantic.com... (5) http://privateschool.about.com... (6) http://www.babycenter.com... (7) http://nces.ed.gov...