Are Teachers Happier in Private or Public Schooling?

Michael Lee

October 2, 2018

Which schools will give the students and teachers better support to be successful after high school

August 2012, I walk into Wasatch Junior High in Salt Lake City Utah. This is my first

time going to a public school, because up to this point in my life I’ve attended a private school.

Little did I know that my first math class of my public education would I be behind the learning

curve; and during my first English class I would be years ahead. For other people they tend to

experience something different. Is this due to poor hiring processes for teachers, a lack of

funding, or maybe not enough federal government involvement of younger education?

Crowded halls of high school

Funding
 In private schools, the majority if all funding comes from fundraisers instead of from

government support; in comparison, most public schools receive their funding from local

government and very little comes from fundraisers. This is important to note because since the

private schools don’t receive funding from the government they sometimes have to take the old

supplies that public schools receive from the government for free. According to Ursula Hackett a

professor at the University of Oxford; when private schools go looking for their new supplies

they usually ending up getting text books from the public high schools. However, it may be

possible that the federal government needs to become more involved in younger education,

“According to the National Center for Education Statistics, state and local funding accounts for

approximately 93 percent of education expenditures (pbs.org).” The Federal Government may

need to become more involved in both private and public funding to help the public education.

The calming entrance to Intermountain Christian school

Picture of Intermountain Christian School by: unknown

Employment
 The difference in hiring processes in private and public education occurs for multiple

reasons, including amount of education the teacher has, to the pay rate that you receive in private

vs public schooling. For example, since teachers in public schools are considered government

employees they are typically not as well paid as private school teachers. Additionally, according

to Denise Buckley the vice principle at Intermountain Christian School, she is working at a

private institution because the pay is better, as well as, she has more say in what happens in the

school since there are less people running the school. When public school teachers are hired,

they typically go through a four-step employment process described by leadpublicschools.org as

the hiring process. During this four-step process, they never actually come face to face with the

teacher, but they do manage a video call. Additionally, public schools have the potential

employees submit a demonstration of teaching styles. This can greatly differ from private

schools which the hiring process can vary from school to school.

Some ways that you can improve public or private schooling is to add a screening

process to the hiring of teachers, change how school funding works and increase the amount of

money that schools receive, and try and make teachers pay more universal to try and

accommodate for the ability of the wage gap between the private and public schools.
 WORKS CITED

Hackett, Ursula. “Theorizing the Submerged State: The Politics of Private

Schools in the United States.” Policy Studies Journal, vol. 45, no.
3, Aug. 2017, pp. 464–489. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/psj.12170.
“Home.” LEAD Public Schools, The Digital Bell,
www.leadpublicschools.org/hiring-process.
WLIW2I. “How Do We Fund Our Schools?” PBS, Public Broadcasting
Service, 5 Sept. 2008,
www.pbs.org/wnet/wherewestand/blog/finance-how-do-we-fund-
our-schools/197/.

Picture 1:
Soelen, Tim Van. “The Intermountain Christian Story: Culture Making |
Center for the Advancement of Christian Education
(CACE).” CACE, 23 Dec. 2014,
cace.org/the-intermountain-christian-story-culture-creators-part-i/
Gallagher, Michael. “Ellensburg School District Explores Options
for Morgan.” Daily Record, Brian Myrick, 2 June 2011,
www.dailyrecordnews.com/top_story/ellensburg-school-district-
explores-options-for-morgan/article_bf262be0-8d3f-11e0-bfcf-
001cc4c03286.html.
Picture 2:
Swift, Mary. “Superintendent Busy Making Pitch to Voters as Election
Approaches.” Daily Record, 16 June 2015,
www.dailyrecordnews.com/news/superintendent-busy-making-pitch-to-
voters-as-election-approaches/article_4a9912a6-67bf-11e0-bfc0-
001cc4c002e0.html?mode=image.
Dear Teachers and Parents,

Today I will be discussing where you should be attending to try and most successfully

prepare your children and students for education after high school. I will be discussing the pros

and cons of private school funding and employment methods as compared to public schools. The

findings are represented through ethos with the help of the research from Ursula Hackett and

Denise Buckley. I have learned that trying to remain impartial during papers can be difficult, but

using sources and interviews can be majorly beneficial to supporting your paper.