Does your child attend public or private school? The next two columns will discuss facts about both types of education. Hopefully this information, along with other sources, will inform parents about what they can do to support their child’s progress through either system. 

The U.S. public school system educates a significant number of students in our country. The National Center for Education Statistics reports that as of 2001-2002, there were 47.7 million students enrolled in elementary and secondary public schools, being taught by 3 million teachers. Of the students, 60.3 percent were White, 17.2 percent were Black, and 17.1 percent were Hispanic. Asian-Pacific students comprised 4.2 percent, while American Indian/Alaskan Native made up 1.2 percent of the students.
Public schools can vary from one community to another, depending on the size of the student population being served and the amount of available funding to that school district. Tax levies can make a difference in the quality of educational buildings and resources. Education plays an important role in preparing youth to take their places in society at some future point. So it is in everyone’s best interests, whether or not they currently have a child enrolled in the public school system, to take an interest in the type of education being provided for children in the community. Quality programs, teachers, and resources give children a meaningful academic experience and can help to shape their values and behavior both in and out of school for life.

Depending on the state of the economy and the community’s willingness or ability to support local schools, some systems lack adequate support for their pupils. Special needs students who need to be tested for learning disabilities and then provided with supplemental programming may not receive this guidance in a system that lacks the funding or expertise to provide it. Students who struggle to master challenging math, science, or language concepts can fall behind their peers at some point in their education if the school is unable to provide tutorial assistance or extra help before or after school. These problems are just the tip of the iceberg, but they affect everyone whose lives will be impacted by the next generation of high school graduates.
Here are a few things you can do to support your child’s public school education.
Talk with the teacher to find out what type of supplies or teaching resources could help her better equip students to meet that grade’s learning objectives. Discuss these needs with the PTO (parent-teacher organization) to plan fund-raising events to buy needed resources.

Find out what you can do at home to supplement your child’s classroom education. For example, in school districts where extracurricular programs like music or art have been cut, borrow classical or folk music recordings from the library and listen to them with your child, discussing them afterward.

Browse the Internet for free, grade-appropriate learning aids that you can download to help your child in fun, easy-to-do projects. Sites like apples4theteacher.com and abcteach.com offer thousands of activities that you can work on together at home.
Volunteer to teach a special skill at the local school, whether a foreign language or a craft like creative writing or woodworking.

Stay informed about government programs like No Child Left Behind (NCLB) so you can lobby your state representatives and vote according to your views of the program’s usefulness. Utilizing tips like these, parents can play a crucial role in their children’s public school success.