Public Education Needs Competition

The time for back to school is quickly approaching. And for many Black parents, that leaves no other alternative outside of the tried and true public education system. In business, there is a widely held belief that competition creates better goods and services. Could non-traditional schooling fill that competitor role in motivating public education into a better product?

For the context of this blog post, “Non-traditional school” will represent any form of curriculum based education in a classroom setting outside of the public education environment. (These are your charter, private, magnet schools, etc.) Having worked with each type of K-12 educating body in past roles, I can attest that public education pays a great deal of attention to alternative forms of education. There are processes in place non-traditional schools perfect that public education would do well to adopt where applicable.

Non-traditional schools often have impressive graduation rates, solid overall GPA’s, and high standardized test scores. The specialized curriculum and a low teacher-student ratio can be attributed to the wealth of accolades. Therefore, it goes without saying that the number of non-traditional schools has dramatically increased over the past decade. The question is how are these institutions achieving such high standards on a consistent basis?

The answer is simply competition. Specifically, competition for federal and private funding. There is real motivation here than just keeping the doors open. The educators participating in non-traditional schools can expect to be paid handsomely for their work. Such basic motivation coupled with a love for the role plays a large part in the success of their students. Which, in turn, successfully grows their school’s and personal finances.

Teachers being let go or leaving the public education system has dominated the news headlines as of late. I would be curious to learn where these teachers are seeking out new employment. I have a hunch non-traditional schools are seeing an influx of job applications. Another area job-seeking teachers are considering employment is online. Online schools are seeing a growth spurt in the form of new students. It only makes sense that more teachers are needed to accommodate the increase.

However, I am unsure if public education can compete here. Many teachers are underpaid and over-extended in the classroom. The draw of being academically successful to receive funding has some schools behaving unethically. If public education would began to compete, I believe the benefits will show outwardly in the school’s and student’s performance.

My first born is heading into the public education system this year. So, it has become my intention to do all I can to help make the system the best product it can be. I will offer my time and abilities, where appropriate, to support that intention. I encourage you to do the same. If you can financially and consciously consider the alternatives to public schooling, do so. It will only make the school product a majority of Black America’s children participate in better!