Why Public Schools Should Not Be Privatized

After listening to Joseph Stiglitz's interview with Democracy Now, I was surprised, but rather sadden, to hear that one of the results of the top 1% receiving more and more of the US's wealth was the elimination of public schools and the increase of private education. With the economy still trying to recover from the financial crisis, less federal money is being pumped into the public education system. Public schools are constantly taking disastrous hits to their already insignificant budgets. With less resources, the public schools cannot compete with their private counterparts, and as a result, more parents are opting to send their children to private schools. There are many problems with this recent turn to privatizing public schools, which are laid out in the article "Confronting the Challenge of Privatization in Public Education" written by Dr. Pedro Noguera of the University of California, Berkley. Using California schools as his basis, he explains why privatizing public schools in the US would lead to the country in the wrong direction.

Dr. Noguera argues that despite the weaknesses of the public schools, they still are the best and often only sources of mobility to working class people and the poor. Unlike private schools which can deny students access, public schools allow the underprivileged a change to have a level playing field with other students. Allowing public schools to be privatized would mean an increased amount of segregation across the country in the educational system. In a way, private schools result in less equality.

Another problem Dr. Noguera has with this new trend is that private schools are not held to the same standards as public schools. Public schools have certain criteria they have to adhere to, provided by them by the government. All public schools must follow these guidelines; however, private schools can make their own curriculum. In many cases, the private school curriculum's are religious based or the school year is lessened or lengthened. This puts all the students across the country at different levels of education, beyond what naturally occurs.

Beyond what Dr. Noguera lists as his reasons for not privatizing public education, I personally believe public schools should not be privatized simply on the grounds that the United States was the first industrialized nation to establish public schools, and in doing so, it allowed this country to become what it is today. Privatizing public schools would limit opportunities only to a select group of people, which goes against the principles this country was founded on. Public schools are, as Dr. Noguera says "an important natural resource". It is my opinion that the country should not get rid of them but rather reform them.

Q: As an MCLA student, what have you noticed are some disadvantages and advantages to attending a state college?

Dr. Noguera's article: http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/pnpriv1.html