If You Could Chose Where Your Taxes Went Would They Go To a Public or Private School

A private school can pick and chose its student body. If a student is too disruptive he or she can be removed. After all, the school is "private" and not required to take any person (especially one who doesn't want to be there), and try to provide him or her with an education. Is this one reason that most private schools (and in most cases these are the "parochial" schools) have much easier time providing an education to their student body? Are their students so much better than those in public schools, or do they just have an easier environment in which to teach? And can someone tell me this: are teachers in the private schools taking less pay to teach there?

private schools pay teachers less, also how much a person pays for private school depends on the quality of kids. we sent our son to a very expensive school at first, and the kids were great, then reality set in that we could not afford all three of our kids to go there, so went to a cheaper school, and the kids there are more like public school kids. still a nice school though. our reason to go private is more about our beliefs, but tps makes it easier to pay for it since they are not doing well, and we don't want our kids in a large class where they would not get as much attention.

Parochial school teachers make far less than their public school counterparts - I had a conversation w/a teacher just a few months ago (from St. Ursula, if memory serves me correctly), and I was shocked at what she made. Let's just say it was well below the minimum rate that teachers start out with at TPS, and this teacher even had a few years of experience.

As far as the difference between private/parochial and public schools goes...yes, I absolutely think that the student body makes a difference. Generally, if a family is going to pay the money to send their kids to a private/parochial school, you'd expect that the family would also have certain expectations for their child's performance. And the private school doesn't have to take everyone - they can pick and choose their student body, for the most part.

i agree with the child vs teacher ratios in private schools, they are lower. that is another reason why we make the sacrifice to send our kids to a private school. (we are a one income family of five, and my husband is an engineer.) if we went with our local tps school i'm afraid my kids would get lost in the shuffle. my oldest child is a quiet kid, who does not speak up when he needs help, and i know he would not get a good education with a large class. in a private school, his teacher knows that, and has the time to force him to come out of his shell. he's not a problem kid, so i feel if he was at tps the teacher would spend more time on the problem kids than the quiet kids. the squeaky wheel gets the grease. he's a very smart kid who is really excelling in a private school, and i feel it's because of all the extra attention he gets. private schools also push the kids more, so they can also be more prepared for college.

This is my (Bishop Stephen Ward's) remedy for some of the issues within TPS

Anti Violence/Drug Committee
Appointed by and advisory to TPS Board. The committee is composed of school personnel, county/city representatives from law enforcement, rehabilitation agencies, post secondary educational institutions and local health agencies. The purpose of the committee is to coordinate services to area students and families in the prevention of illegal chemical use and support in resolving conflict in non-violent ways.

District Media Advisory Committee
Appointed by and advisory to TPS Board. This committee is made up of approximately 20 people including school board members, administrators, media specialists, district media staff, teachers, students, parents and community members. The major responsibilities of the committee include: long-range planning and goals, setting the media/technology department's yearly objectives, creating budgeting formulas and procedures, and reviewing building technology plans and policies.

Gifted and Talented Committee
Appointed by and advisory to TPS Board. This committee's tasks include: Advocate the needs of gifted students. Design gifted identification policy and procedures. Define gifted program expectations. Articulate gifted education criteria.

Transportation Committee
Appointed by and advisory to TPS Board. Committee purposes: Review and recommend changes/additions to Transportation Policies. Review school bus curriculum and school bus safety procedures relating to the transportation of students. Review discipline procedures and guidelines for students on school buses or at bus stops. Develop budget for the expenditure of student transportation safety revenue. Review requests for school starting time/dismissal changes. Review requests for additional transportation services. Review long-range transportation plans.

Legislative Committee
Appointed by and advisory to TPS Board. Committee purposes: Annually develop a legislative agenda relating to issues affecting Toledo Public Schools. Communicate legislative platform to area legislators, community, and staff. Monitor legislative information during the legislative session. Testify before the Legislature on legislative platform proposals. Annually host a meeting with area legislators.

Nutrition Advisory Committee
Toledo Public Schools' Nutrition Advisory Committee provides advice to the Food Service Director about the creation of nutrition guidelines and procedures for the selection of foods and beverages served to students in order to ensure that food and beverage choices are consistent with current dietary guidelines. This committee also provides advice on ways to encourage healthy eating by students; and on information to communicate to parents/guardians to support a healthy diet and physical activity for children outside of the school day.
The following committees are appointed by each school principal and typically meet three to four times each year to be determined at the beginning of each school year:

Elementary & Middle School
Student Advisory Committee Appointed by Elementary & Middle School Principal's, advisory to the TPS Board. Committee members meet with TPS Board members to provide input and feedback on issues that affect Toledo Public Schools' Middle School Students.

High School Advisory Committee
Appointed by High School Principal's, advisory to the TPS Board. Committee members meet with TPS Board members to provide input and feedback on issues that affect Toledo Public Schools' High School Students.
All Advisory Committees should be of Equal representation of gender and race. In addition there should also be included at least 3 TPS High School students on each committee to serve as advisors, and give input from the student body.