Comparing Results of Private and Public Schools After My Own Experiences
Olivia Sullivan looks into data relating to graduation rates and outcomes at various schools in the Vallejo and Benicia, California area and wonders whether the high cost of private schools is worth it.
I attended public school for the first half of my schooling career, a fact that I never thought much about until the seventh grade when I was enrolled at a private middle school.
I had seen the TV shows and movies about what private school was like, but I never really pondered over their level of truth until I myself could see some of it first hand.
Unlike the TV shows and movies, the kids here weren’t all stuck up and waving around the newest piece of designer clothing. But on the other hand, and much like in the shows and movies, the expectations surrounding education were intense.
For me, a young girl who was fresh out of a public school where one could get away with not doing their homework for an entire year and still pass into the next grade, the change felt monumental.
I had always deemed myself a decent student, at least when math isn’t involved, but these kids made my hardest work look like a toddler had put it together. These kids who had been taking Spanish lessons since kindergarten and taking notes on their school provided Chromebooks. They felt like worlds away from me, but I was determined to catch up.
After attending private school from seventh to eighth grade, my parents deemed it best to keep me on the same path, and so I was enrolled into St. Patrick St. Vincent High School. They chose to keep me on the private school track because of its supposed perks, such as more challenging academics and prep for four year college. It was there that I finished out my pre-college education and graduated in 2019.
During graduation each students chosen college was read aloud for everyone in attendance to hear. And it was in this moment I begin to wonder about the true benefits of the decision to send me to a private school. Other kids all over Vallejo and Benicia were graduating much the same as I, and had plans to go off to college. To this day this big picture question has plagued my mind and caused me to want to look deeper into the data behind my old high school’s claims of high graduation rates and overall successful graduates.
Private schools are not funded by federal, state, or local governments–therefore they are not subject to regulations.
In my case, the private schools I attended were Catholic private schools, meaning they focused on the Catholic Church’s teachings and regulation instead. It also costs money to attend this school, which is something to keep in mind. Public schools, on the other hand, do not cost money to attend, are funded by taxes, andare run by the local government.
The schools I will be looking at for this study fall into one of these three categories. The three schools in the above order are St. Patrick St. Vincent High School, Benicia High School, and Vallejo High School. Using information from a website called Niche, as well as the school’s verified websites, I was able to collect necessary data on all three schools.
Starting off with the high school I attended, we will be looking at data from St. Patrick St. Vincent or SPSV on the graduation rates and success of graduates.
SPSV has, at maximum, a little over 500 students, with each grade level (9–12th) having a little over 100 students.
Due to the small nature of the school, the student to teacher ratio is about 15:1, meaning it is a more small and intimate schooling experience. Based on the data I collected, SPSV reports that 100% of their students graduate from their school. According to their own website, the most recent class of 2021 was, “accepted to over 73 different colleges across the country,” and, “of the graduates who applied to a 4-year college or university, 100% are accepted to at least one 4-year institution, and 85% chose to attend this year.”
This data collected from the most recent 2021 graduating class matches up with my graduating class from 2019. Everyone graduated and everyone made plans for the future, whether that be college or going into the military.
My interest here is the line that says, “of the people who applied to 4-year college or university,” which implies that not all students did in fact apply to a four-year college or university.
It is important to note that there are many options for furthering education outside of the standard four-year college or university format. However, this statistic strikes me as important to the debate of whether or not attending a private school such as this one is worth the 16-thousand dollars it costs in yearly tuition.
Moving on to Benicia High School or BHS, we see a big jump in students here as it is a public school. This school usually has a little over 1,500 students in attendance, with a ratio of students to teachers being 22:1. This means that each grade level (9–12th) has just under 400 students in it. Out of that, BHS reports that 98% of their students are graduating. They, like SPSV, offer AP courses and opportunities for students to push themselves academically. However there isn’t much of anything I was able to find that reports on how many of those kids who graduate go on to college, but from what I know personally a good number of them do. Whether it be to a community college or to a 4-year college or university, there is a good chunk of students who do in fact go on with their education.
Finally we will look at Vallejo High School, or VHS. Much like BHS, there is a jump in the amount of students attending here as it is a public school, coming in just under 17 thousand students.
The ratio between students and teachers falls at about 26:1. A major difference we see with VHS is that the class or grade sizes reflect this number in odd ways. Based on the most recent data I was able to find, the senior class only has a little over 300 students, where the sophomore and junior classes are averaging out at 400; the sophomore class having 460 and the junior class having 415.
This decline in students is important to think about when looking at their graduation rate which is stationed at about 66%. As for the rate of student graduates attending some form of college, like BHS, that number is difficult to find. Unlike BHS, however, on the VHS school website there is lots of information regarding the college and career programs they offer.
When looking at the data collected it is clear to me that my parents made the choice they thought would be most beneficial for me and my educational career. The graduation rates between the schools, especially between SPSV and VHS, are staggeringly different.
Although it is important to also note that the difference between SPSV and BHS are not as different, and often time procure the same or similar results. Although SPSV is marketed as a college preparatory school, the students at BHS were still accepted and attending the same colleges after high school. For almost 16-thousand dollars, the difference or lack thereof, should allow the parents who can’t afford it to have some peace of mind.
It is also important to talk about the area in which these schools reside and the people who attend them. In conducting my research, I found that 68% of students attending VHS are economically disadvantaged, and 20% of students at BHS are economically disadvantaged. These numbers are important to remember when looking at graduation rates and the completion of schooling.
These students are unable to attend a school that costs as much as SPSV does, and are therefore being left out of the same opportunities. It is important to remember this privilege when looking at the data, and when regarding these students.
