National study sheds light on rising enrollment in NC private schools
Nonpublic school teachers have higher job satisfaction, greater autonomy, and more support than their public school counterparts
RALEIGH, NC (June 2, 2009) A new report sheds light on possible reasons for rising enrollment rates in North Carolina’s private schools, despite economic challenges.
The national study, released by the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, presents data from the Schools and Staffing Survey, a major nationwide survey of teachers conducted by the U.S. Department of Education. The data is broken down for public and private school teachers, comparing what teachers have to say about their work in each of the two school sectors.
According to the report, non-public school teachers are much more satisfied with their jobs. The findings also show that non-public school teachers have greater control over what they do in their classrooms and more influence over important school policies, are better empowered to keep order in the classroom, enjoy more support from administrators and peers, suffer less burnout, and are safer than their public school counterparts.
The study comes just as the N.C. Division of Non-Public Education has reported record-setting enrollment numbers at the state’s private schools. Despite poor economic conditions, 98,545 elementary, middle and high schools students are enrolled in the state's non-public schools this school year, compared to 97,656 students during the 2007-08 school year.
Rising enrollment is not limited to schools serving primarily white, upper-income students. Upper Room Christian Academy in southeast Raleigh, a Pre-K through 9 private school serving a significant number of low-income, minority students, has experienced a noticeable increase in admission inquiries for the upcoming school year.
"We're definitely receiving a lot of calls not just for our K-9 program but also for Pre-K admissions," said Melany Alexander, Principal of Upper Room Christian Academy. "That's interesting to note because we serve a diverse population of students and families of various socioeconomic backgrounds," she explained. "We're looking at this increase as a potential population explosion due to what is happening public education."
"The myth is that parental school choice is for mostly white, wealthy families, but that notion is dispelled by growth at schools like Upper Room Christian Academy," said Darrell Allison, president of Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina.
"For our state to be a leader in education, we must examine what is working and what isn't across public and nonpublic educational sectors," Allison continued. "Surely, the strong correlation between working environment and learning environment likely plays a role in more parents' making financial sacrifices to choose what they feel is the safest and best educational option for their children."
A copy of the full report can be accessed here. Among the report's findings:
- Private school teachers are much more likely to say they will continue teaching as long as they are able (62 percent v. 44 percent), while public school teachers are much more likely to say they'll leave teaching as soon as they are eligible for retirement (33 percent v. 12 percent) and that they would immediately leave teaching if a higher paying job were available (20 percent v. 12 percent).
- Private school teachers are much more likely to have a great deal of influence on performance standards for students (40 percent v. 18 percent), curriculum (47 percent v. 22 percent), and discipline policy (25 percent v. 13 percent).
- Public school teachers are more likely to report that student misbehavior (37 percent v. 21 percent) or tardiness and class cutting (33 percent v. 17 percent) disrupt their classes, and are four times more likely to say student violence is a problem on at least a monthly basis (48 percent v. 12 percent).
- Public school teachers are twice as likely as private school teachers to agree that the stress and disappointments they experience at their schools are so great that teaching there isn't really worth it (13 percent v. 6 percent).
- Public school teachers are almost twice as likely to agree that they sometimes feel it is a waste of time to try to do their best as a teacher (17 percent v. 9 percent).
- Nearly one in five public school teachers has been physically threatened by a student, compared to only one in twenty private school teachers (18 percent v. 5 percent).
About PEFNC:
Founded on July 5, 2005, Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina (PEFNC), a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to finding ways to effectively better an educational system for all children in North Carolina. PEFNC supports all programs that provide parents and children with greater educational options and builds awareness of the need for even more educational options in North Carolina, including an option not currently available to families in our state: the opportunity for families to educate their child privately and/or non-traditionally through a tax credit or equal opportunity scholarship programs. For more information, please visit www.pefnc.org
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