Why my kids go to private school

by HOWARD M. BERLIN

9/9/2001

My youngest child is entering 12th grade as the State of Delaware thinks it has gotten its act together on educational accountability after 10 years of stonewalling. After learning that our school district Brandywine, is going to ask for another tax increase after successfully begging for one last May, I decided to revisit the reasons my wife and I chose to reject the public school system and send our three children to a private school after the chaos of forced busing mandated in the late 1970s.

Neither my wife nor I ever attended a private school. I was born in Wilmington and am a product of a once capable public school system. Mary C.I. Williams, Harlan and P.S. du Pont Junior Senior High. My wife immigrated here and was in a communist-controlled education system.

However, the downward trend in the educational climate and uncertainty over any meaningful improvement caused us to enroll our children in a private school to give them the best education possible which did not seem to be coming from the public system. In fact, more than 19 years after our oldest child started private school, Delaware public education has only now started to implement accountability and higher standards.

Frankly, as a college educator myself, I feel the quality of the public school graduate in Delaware is worse now than before busing--after more than 22 years of decline.

In no particular order of importance, we came up with the following reasons that guided our decision in favor of private school.

School buses
The school buses were not required to have seat belts, unlike private cars. Apparently safety wasn't a big concern in the public school system and we weren't happy with this.

Also, the buses are driven by those not well paid for the huge responsibility they shouldered. Many students have attitude problems and at times their presence on a bus distracts a driver traveling 55 mph or faster on I-95.

Until each of my children was able to drive, my wife and I drove our kids, wearing seat belts, to school and picked them up every day. The school is about five miles away, and that was better than my children facing hour-long bus rides between north Wilmington and Newark. Nor would we have to travel long distances to attend school events and teacher conferences.

Administrative overhead
There is less administrative overhead at private schools. In public schools, much of this is required to tend to reams of government-mandated paperwork and dubious social engineering goals rather than promoting better education. In my children's private school, the heads of the middle and upper schools and the deans taught classes too.

The overhead in the Brandywine district, which includes misspent money, the buyout of a bad contract and missing computers, has driven up taxes. Recent studies show that Delaware spends upwards of $8,000 per student, one of the highest public spending rates in the nation.

My wife and I have consistently voted against these increases because we already pay up to $15,000 a year for each child for private school--about a third more than it costs to go to the University of Delaware. Nevertheless, my wife and I were willing to make the long-term financial sacrifices for a better education. As we are not scions of a wealthy family, this commitment has meant no fancy vacations for more than 20 years nor any new cars. My wife's 1978 car has more than 330,000 miles on it; my 1983 car has more than 130,000 miles.

Teacher certification
Teachers are not required to have state certification to teach in private schools, but they are still competent and generally have higher expectations of their students. Still, our school is accredited by the Middle States Association.

If public school teachers are required to be certified, why then can't Johnny read or do math, even with a calculator? National studies show that many recent teacher graduates cannot pass the certification exams. Apparently the teachers themselves cannot read or write well enough.

I am an electrical engineer with five academic degrees including a doctorate, with more than 90 credits in education courses alone. I have written 28 books, have three patents, and have taught college for more than 20 years after 13 years in research and development. Nevertheless, I have been told I am not qualified to get a teaching certificate without taking even more courses. Does it make sense that I am qualified to teach future school teachers but not qualified to be one of them?

Private school teachers generally have no unions, which means no strikes. They might not be paid as much as their public school counterparts, but we knew our children's education would not be interrupted by the possibility of opposing sides wrestling for control.

Crime and safety
Private schools have less crime. Very few students come to private school with anti social attitudes or weapons, so there is no need for metal detectors or rent-a-cops.

Although it might offend civil rights purists, the justice system at private schools is often swift and sure. You know what the rules are up front. Malcontents and juvenile sociopaths are quickly gotten rid of without having to worry about judges telling schools what to do.

Yes, private schools have the luxury of being able to pick and chose their students, but there is still no excuse for those who won't curb aggressive behavior.

What impressed us most at our children's school was that there were no locks on the lockers. I don't think that only public schools are breeding grounds for crime, but private schools have nowhere near the problem faced by public schools.

Continuity and bonding
It was really great having all three of our children attend the same school and have many of the same teachers. My wife and I got to know the teachers, administrators and many other parents. Teachers and administrators were accessible after hours by telephone at home and we found them willing to listen and receptive to our concerns when our viewpoints differed. Parent-teacher meetings and open houses were always well attended, a testament to parental interest and involvement.

Was the student body diversified and representative of the community? Probably not. There were small groups of blacks, Asians and non Christians there, but our focus was more on the quality of education.

Curriculum
The private school we chose had a tradition of being academically rigorous and demanding high standards--things lacking in the public schools. Despite its small size, our school was also strong in the arts and competitive in athletics. There were no social promotions and we were given no guarantees that any of our children would succeed once admitted.

The standards for graduation exceed those required by the state Department of Education, both 19 years ago and now. The smallness of the upper school is such that it might not have as many Advanced Placement courses as some public schools, but quantity doesn't equate to quality. Nevertheless, typically 10 percent of each graduating class ranks as National Merit semifinalists.

Recent statistics show that approximately 20 percent of Delaware students attend private school--parochial or secular--the highest rate in the country. It's estimated that up to 25 percent of the teachers in the Brandywine School District send their children to private school. Perhaps those teachers know something the others don't. This does not even count the increasing popularity of homeschooling.

With this fall term, Delaware public schools finally begin accountability. It took far too long and my family wasn't going to wait for the politicians, teachers and school officials to come up with a plan amid continued opposition. My daughter, the oldest child and an average student in her K-12 years, just finished both a bachelor's degree with honors and a master's degree in five years. Our oldest son will be graduating from college next year after three years with high honors. Our youngest will enter college next year.

In looking back, we feel we made a good choice in sending them all to private school.

Howard M. Berlin is on the faculty of Delaware Technical & Community College