Everyone Loves To Hate Fancy Private Schools
By Jennifer Wagner
It’s always easy to hate the rich and their fancy private schools.
It’s even easier in tough economic times when unemployment is high and the future is uncertain.
So when the U.S. Department of Education issued guidance last month for the distribution of $13.5 billion in federal pandemic aid to all schooling types based on the total number of students they serve, it wasn’t a shock that some folks got a little hot under the collar.
The objections seemed to largely be based on the belief that private schools only cater to rich people and don’t need the cash. It’s worth noting that pandemic relief funds are distributed to public schools by district; officials are free to spend the money however they want, not just on schools that serve low-income students.
Before we get into all that, a quick reminder that in practically every poll ever conducted, a whole lot more parents would prefer to send their kids to private schools than are able to right now. Here’s the latest data from our recently launched EdChoice Public Opinion Tracker, which is updated monthly from surveys conducted by Morning Consult:
To be clear, a little less than 10 percent of all U.S. students currently attend a private school, but more than a third of parents would choose one if they could.
Then why are people so mad?
Is it because they don’t have access to a schooling type they want? (We’re working on that, slowly but surely.)
Or is it because they’ve made assumptions about private schools that simply aren’t true?
Yes, there are rich people who send their kids to exclusive, fancy private schools.
But there also are lots of private schools that serve low-income communities and special needs students. They are not fancy, and if they are exclusive, it’s because they are trying to help a specific population whose needs are not being met in the traditional system.
Many private schools — yes, even the fancy ones — have private scholarship funds or discounted tuition rates to knock down financial barriers for those who can’t afford to pay.
The bottom line: Private schools serve almost five million students, and they’re hurting right alongside their public and charter counterparts right now. They should get the same kind of help.
Let’s say, though, that you’re in the “but public schools need the money more” camp.
We crunched the numbers to find out what would happen if just a percentage of private school students head back to the public system, either because they can no longer afford tuition or because their schools close.
Ish gets real:
See, most of the kids who currently attend private schools aren’t costing taxpayers anything — and their families are still paying into the public system. (Worth noting: Even when parents select private schools using public funds, it saves taxpayers money.)
If 30 percent of those students move back to the public system, state and local governments would suddenly be scrambling to come up with another $20 billion per year. That’s on top of revenue shortfalls, record unemployment and pension debt that was out of control before the virus hit.
Kind of puts arguing over $13.5 billion in one-time pandemic funding into perspective, doesn’t it?
But if you’re still certain you want to leave private schools hanging, allow me to leave you with one last thought.
According to new COVID-19 polling from the National Coalition for Public School Options, 21 percent of parents with children in brick-and-mortar schools said they would not be comfortable with their child returning to their school. Nine percent said they would be “not at all comfortable.”
On top of that, more than 40 percent of brick-and-mortar parents said they would consider continuing online learning next year. That sentiment was strongest among African-Americans (49 percent) and Hispanics (48 percent), and in urban (47 percent) and rural (49 percent) communities.
It’s true those numbers might change if fears about the pandemic subside, but those data points should terrify brick-and-mortar schools regardless of schooling type.
For the past three months, nearly every parent in America — including yours truly — became a home educator. For some of us, the prospect of voluntarily continuing in that role is not something we’d embrace. But four out of 10 parents are considering that option.
If the trend holds, and families pull their kids out of school buildings, the big winner is going to be…online learning!
Again, that might not be the case long-term, but if school buildings are half-empty come fall, they’re still going to need a way to keep the lights on — literally.
As we move forward with this debate, it’s clear the talking heads and policymakers in Washington are making it more about politics than helping all students maintain access to the educational approach that works best for them. If we can push that goal to center stage, the answer is obvious: all schools deserve relief.
Jennifer Wagner is a mom, a recovering political hack and the Vice President of Communications for EdChoice, a national nonprofit that supports and promotes universal school choice.
