Dept. of Education study: Catholic H.S. Students Twice as Likely to Graduate College

It is my observation and personal experience which says, if you refuse to learn or behave, in a catholic school, you will be severely punished (empahsis on SEVERELY! ), but no matter how hard they tried, how many times they locked me up, banged my head against the blackboard or my desk, they never made me learn to speak french! (sorry Sister Mary!) I did go to a public high school for a while (CAKE WALK!), and the sciences were fun, humanities were a gas, but the rest? , Meh! I have to agree with the supposition that when your parents are picking up the tab for your education, they tend to pay much closer attention to how much bang they were getting for they're school dollars. Public education is pretty much a joke. But who doesn't already know that?

WeRpeons
reply to post by xuenchen

 

Comparing private schools to public schools is a joke. Private schools have selective enrollment. If any student has a disciplinary problem or isn't making the grade, they can easily be kicked out and told to enroll into a public school. In addition, corporal discipline is still used in private schools, so students there have consequences when they misbehave or disrupt classes. Most children who attend private schools come from homes whose parents are college educated (hence role models), and the majority of them are not growing up in poverty. Compare statistics on how many learning support students are enrolled in public schools as compared to private schools. Our local high school alone has 28 percent enrolled in learning support and 78 percent of our students come from poverty stricken homes, run down neighborhoods, street gangs and crime infested neighborhoods.

Even in athletics, private high schools dangle free tuition to outstanding athletes in public schools. They strip public schools of a lot of their star athletes, and ignore the effects it has on public school athletics. In the mean time, they will look away and carry a below average star athlete as long as it benefits their sports program. It's why their athletic programs are always extremely competitive and successful. Any school who has selective enrollment will always out perform schools who must select any student who walks in their doors.

Public schools and private schools are not on an even keel. Anyone who thinks they are, hasn't experienced both sides of the coin.

There are a few characterizations and some over generalizations.

1. Yes, private schools are "selective" but only to a point. Catholic grade schools which I attended and my children currently attend do not have entrance exams and the children there aren't any smarter than in their public counterparts. They do have the right expel students for disciplinary reasons but I have never seen a student expelled for poor academic performance.
2. Similarly with corporal punishment, its prohibited by statue in my state (Illinois) and most states north of the Mason Dixon. States that allow it, allow it in all schools public or private.
3. As for special education, you are right, Catholic schools generally don't deal with severe special needs students. But as far as test scores go (the ACT and SAT) special needs students dont take those exams.
4. Poverty is also an issue, but Catholic Schools serve many disadvantaged students. St. Ignatius College Prep in Chicago is one of the most prestigious college prep schools in the US. Its also the most selective and expensive college prep school in Illinois. They usually only take the top 10% of applicants based on admission tests, but if they extend you an invitation they will see to it that your tuition is covered if your family cannot afford it.
5. I have never heard of a Catholic HS offering a scholarship for an athlete. IHSA rules discourage high school hopping by putting eligibility limits on transfer students.

My $.02,

reply to post by xuenchen

I don't think it's so much a factor of what the Catholic schools are doing right so much as what the public schools are doing wrong.

I say this because I've seen similar statistics from secular private high schools as well.

What's so off about public high schools? I wouldn't know. I took a high school proficiency exam asap so I could skip it

reply to post by Lucid Lunacy


It's always amusing to see the secularist's reaction to religious types doing things better.

"No, it's not that they're doing anything right, it's just that the government is doing everything wrong."

What, are they not secular enough?

You can not compare what a public school pays per a student to what the tuition is per a student at Catholic School. That Tuition is not near enough to keep them afloat, they require endowments, corporate sponsors and other fund raising. Even with that they are closing in huge numbers every year. In the 1960s there were about 13,000 Catholic Schools and now their are less than 7000. In the last 3 years over 2000 of them have closed. Some of them will all awyas be around but, most are on the way out as the costs are just to high. Kind of sad really.

reply to post by adjensen


As I said. I've seen similar stats from secular private high schools. The common denominator then is public high schools. I was just trying to be objective. Perhaps I failed there but it was my intent.

I have no problem being antagonistic towards religion. When I am it will be much more lucid. This wasn't an instance of it.

I went to a Catholic HS, and it had very high level work compared to my friends who went to public school.
College was a breeze compared to my high school work.