PUBLIC SCHOOLS RULE

NEA Today, Oct 2005

Public schools aren't just free and democratic-they're also actually better at boosting student achievement than private schools, according to a new study.

While the average private school student does score better on achievement tests than his or her public school counterpart, researchers at the University of Illinois say it's because private school students come from richer, more educated homes. (Makes sense, no?) With a level playing field, it's the public schools that win.

To come to this conclusion, the research team looked at math scores from more than 1,000 public and private schools that participated in the National Assessment of Educational Progress. When students had similar parents, in terms of both income and education, public school students came out on top.