Should Teachers Be Unionized?

When you compare public and private K-12 schools, there are several things in public schools which you will not find in private schools. Those points of comparison are points which parents consider when thinking about sending their children to private school. Large class sizes, lack of consequences for unacceptable behavior, lack of parental involvement as well as cuts to activities and programs are not things that you will commonly find in private schools as a rule.

Large class sizes

Teaching a large class of students, say, 30-40 students of any age, creates all sorts of classroom management issues for even the most experienced teachers. Maintaining control over a large number of students is possible but decidedly difficult. As a result, one of the reasons parents send their children to private school is for the individual attention which small class sizes afford. It is relatively easy for a child to hide in a large class. That's not so easy to do when you have 12-15 students sitting around a table with their teacher. After all, you want your child to interact with her teachers. You don't want her to end up hiding in the back of a large classroom. You sent her to private school so she could learn.

When you have 12-15 students in a class, you really can teach. Discussions, analyses, and explanations are much easier to facilitate with a smaller group. Everybody's opinion matters. From the teacher's perspective, it is much easier to assess progress when

How Private Schools Can Manage Bad Press: Strategies for Crisis Communication

• "Popular teacher murdered"
• "Accusations of sex abuse at prestigious private school"
• "Lavish expenditures on headmaster's house renovations"

I am not making these up. These are examples of incidents that have actually taken place at private schools.

• In the course of running any business, things happen that can generate negative and unwanted publicity.
• A private school is a business. How you handle a crisis will have a huge impact on the future of your school.

It's the head of school's worst nightmare to read a story about something that happened at his school.

• It's a parent's worst nightmare to read a story about something that happened in her children's school.
• It's a teacher's worst nightmare to be in the midst of the maelstrom, which is the evolving story with all its investigations.

Canva generated this picture of a head of school.

Managing A Crisis

The Head of School's Role

21st-century heads of schools know that they cannot simply circle the wagons and deny the existence of the story. A couple of decades ago, when social media and blogs did not exist, the fortress mentality was how many heads handled tough situations.

• You expelled a few students and fired some staff, and hopefully, the matter was put to rest permanently. Not anymore.
• Unfortunately, smartphones flash photos, comments, and opinions around the world in seconds.
• Your

Opinion

Private school vouchers are available in one form or another in thirteen states and the District of Columbia. That being so, I wondered whether schools which accept vouchers are subject to state regulations over and above what they normally would be subject to. The National Conference of State Legislatures has a useful State-by-State Comparison of School Voucher Laws which allows you and me to compare the various programs.

Background

Currently thirteen states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws which provide scholarships for students meeting specific conditions so they can attend private school. These scholarships are generally referred to as vouchers. Do these private school voucher programs give parents' the choices they desire? Do private schools' give up their most cherished feature, namely, their independence? How are these programs working? What results are they achieving?

John Stoessel and others make the case for vouchers.

Most voucher programs have good intentions. They seek to give parents options in a specific set of circumstances. Sometimes the state voucher law is written to give vouchers to students with a learning disability. Other laws are written with low-income families in mind. Interestingly enough there seem to very few conditions which the private schools accepting vouchers have to meet. If the school merely accepts students without being concerned as to the source of their funding, the school apparently does not have to sacrifice any

Joann McPike, the founder of THINK Global School, graciously answered some questions that I posed about the school. ~ Rob Kennedy

RK: Explain why you took the reins rather than finding some institution that you could guide and shape according to your ideals and goals.

JM: My husband and I love to travel. We have always taken our son Alexander with us whenever we went anywhere. We took his schoolwork with us. It was Alexander's never-ending questions and comments that started showing us the benefits of traveling and opening the minds of youngsters.

We started looking at boarding schools all over the world for when he had to go to high school, and although there are some fantastic schools out there, we couldn't find one that would provide the different points of view that we felt were necessary to have a truly open mind.

As to why I didn't find an institution that we could guide and shape... I assume you mean an existing school? I guess I thought it would be more challenging to try to convince a school board to do something so out of the ordinary than to start a school from scratch. Most people feel safe in the status quo, but there are a few risk-takers who want to shake things up a little. I guess I am one of those who want to shake things up a little... as are the courageous parents who took a leap of faith and sent