Education - Public vs Private

I am a teacher at Nowra Christian school.  It's a real life Christian school.  Last year our HSC results were the best in the Shoalhaven.  In publicising this fact our principal is being very careful to make sure that everyone knows that we aim for high results but that our priority is raising kids to love and serve Jesus.  From a marketing point of view this attitude is a disaster and it's largely why an Anglican College close by has so many more kids than us (they shamelessly flaunt results and minimise their Christianity).

Since my first daughter was born I've been thinking about what I want for her in a school.  I do want her to go to school.  I think that if all you want for your child is great results then home schooling is the way to go, but I want more than that for my daughters.  But what is that?

I often hear from Christians what a shame it is that Christian schools exist.  Some Christians I know are militantly against any independent school and some others think that they are just unnecessary.  Over this summer I met a Christian guy at the beach and when I told him where I worked, his immediate response was 'Oh, I don't agree with Christian schools.' He then went on to say that a public school was fine for him and that his kids all went to public schools and they're fine, so all kids should go to public schools.  This argument is ridiculous.  I hope that he actually had other reasons that he didn't share.

Often a big reason I hear against Christian schools is that by taking Christian kids out of public schools you take away the opportunity for them to evangelise to their non-Christian friends.  This argument has some validity.  The problem with it, though, is that we're imposing on our kids an expectation that they will do something that we don't do ourselves.  My experience of most Christian adults (myself included, I'm ashamed to say) is that really talking about Jesus to their friends is pretty rare.  So our kids have no model.  Although that's not exactly true.  They do have a model, it's one of being ashamed, apprehensive and quiet when it comes to proclaiming Jesus as Lord and calling others to repentance.  So one of my problems with this argument is that we are asking our kids to do something that we ourselves aren't willing to do.

My next problem with this argument is that we're feeding lambs to wolves.  If we are to say that we want our kids in public schools so that they can tell their friends about Jesus, how many of us are going into the school with them to help.  How many of us are in the classroom helping out with reading groups, helping on excursions, teaching scripture ourselves.  The answer is not very many.  Instead what tends to happen, I think, is that we send the kids to school and have very little idea of what's going on in the classroom.  This is ill advised in any school, but when your kids are under the direct instruction and influence of non Christians for the greatest part of their day, surely we want to be as involved as we can.  So if you argue that you want your kids to evangelise to others then what are you doing to help them, at home in your teaching of them, in the community in your modelling how to speak to peers about Jesus and in the school, helping them to tell their friends about Jesus?  I know that there are a few parents who do this, but they seem so few and far between as to make them almost invisible.

I know that if I send my daughters to the local public school that they will be well supported in that school community by my wife.  She models telling kids about Jesus to our daughters, she is already actively involved in the school telling kids about Jesus both in and out of school hours and she fosters relationships with peers so that they might consider how to know Jesus.  My eldest daughter sees all of this and is involved in it too. (My wife isn't perfect, she'd be the first to admit that, but it's undeniable that she works hard for Jesus)  Having said that, though, I also know that if I send my daughters to a public school that most of their friends will be non Christians, they will have mostly, if not all, non Christian teachers propagating morals, ethics and a world view which is totally opposed to our own.  Those teachers are a danger to my children as they want them to be more like them and I want them to be more like Jesus. They will hear only the most basic gospel presentations for 1 hour a week (if that).  They will be actively encouraged to consider all religions or no religion as possible truths.

If I send my daughters to my school then they will be able to pray in class and with their teachers.  They will hear from the Bible every day.  They will be encouraged to follow Jesus.  They will have some non Christian friends and mostly Christian friends.  Every one of their teachers will love and serve Jesus and will actively discourage them from seeking out other religions as possible truths.  On the down side, they may find it hard to make other meaningful friendships with kids in the community and might not have as many opportunities to present Jesus as saviour to people who don't trust him in their schooling years.  But they will be being prepared for ministry in school, being trained up to go out and serve.

I think that arguments for and against public and private education are often simplistic and unhelpful.  I would like to see Christians who are against Christian schooling really consider whether or not they are being fair and the same for Christians who are against public schooling (although I don't see that many of them, even working in a private school).

I'm interested to know other people's thoughts.