Teaching in a Non-Public School
Weighing the Benefits of a Public Versus a Private Institutuion
Apr 25, 2009
Many educators elect to teach in non-public schools that include religious institutions (like the parochial or evangelical church-based schools) and charter schools. For these teachers, the balance between disciplined instruction, less emphasis on standardized tests, and characteristics like dress codes sharply contrast with unruly student behaviors in the public schools and a reliance on curriculum that usually only “teaches to the test.” As one teacher in a non-public school environment put it: it is the difference between the Visigoths and the Athenians.
The Negatives of Teaching in Private Schools
Most non-public schools are tuition driven. Thus, year-to-year employment contracts offer little security for the future. If enrollment declines, teaching positions will be cut. Although this occurs in public schools as well, the safeguards in the public system, including tenure, offer a higher degree of job security. Few non-public schools offer tenure.
Although non-public schools offer benefits such as pensions and health care, any termination of employment eliminates these programs and, since most of these institutions are classified as non-profits, collecting unemployment after a layoff or termination is not possible.
A good example to illustrate this point is the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that imposed an April 17th deadline for all employers to reissue COBRA benefits to former employees involuntarily terminated since September 1, 2008 at a reduced monthly premium rate – 35% of the normal cost. Due to separation of church and state, however, religious schools are exempted from this portion of the act.
In most cases, non-public schools have no real grievance procedure; ultimate decisions are made by one or two individuals (in the case of parochial schools, this is the diocesan bishop). Schools that have either a board or group of trustees tend to limit members’ roles in decision-making, often relegating these boards to the role played by the Roman Senate under the emperors.
In most cases, non-public school salary scales are significantly lower than public schools, although this is not true with the older, “elite” prep schools that predate the proliferation of Country Day type private schools. There are no retirement health care benefits and if a pension system exists, it represents negligible monthly benefits.
Balancing the Public and Non-Public Teaching Experience
Although the non-public alternative may offer the illusion of an educational Utopia, there are many excellent public schools that foster excellence in academics, strong collegiality among the staff, and sound, decisive leadership. Much of the negativism associated with public education focuses on individual accounts that may not reflect the overall picture of a school system.
Many critics point to high drop out rates in the public schools, contrasting the almost non-existent drop out rates in non-public schools where nearly every graduate goes on the college. Yet in most non-public schools, students that cannot “make the grade” are often weeded out before senior year, enroll in the public system, and drop out. Students that withdraw from non-public schools are seldom counted as “drop outs.”
Teachers need to carefully balance career decisions, weighing all options, reading employment contracts carefully, and assessing their future needs according to available options. Some non-public schools do not require any form of state certification or licensure. This might be attractive to a newly graduated teacher without those credentials. Yet switching to the public sector in future years might prove difficult.
Perhaps the academic Garden of Eden incorporates the positive elements of both public and non-public schools. But until that happens, educators will be faced with difficult choices that could dramatically affect on-going careers in education.
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