Over the years, I have been writing about misconceptions regarding the schooling process. The purpose of these posts is to explain why I disagree with various comments that I have heard people make about schooling. These are meant as personal thoughts rather than conclusive proof, and I will admit that I'm not always the best at explaining my thoughts. Regardless, I have decided that I should be willing to share these posts when I encounter someone online who makes an argument that I have already discussed.
I have long insisted that I am more likely to be swayed by those I ultimately disagree with. There have been a few times I have heard good arguments that make sense, but there have been plenty of times in which people have made arguments so horrible that they push me away.
For years, I sat on the sidelines as supporters of the government-run model of schooling attacked anyone who referred to the schools as anything other than public. I didn't have a strong feeling one way or the other regarding this terminology until one of these people compared public schools to public parks. That is when I completely rejected referring to schools as public.
The general issue with this debate is that these schools are publicly funded. Is that enough to refer to them as public schools? When comparing schools to parks, there is an enormous difference. Public parks are open to the general public. Schools are only open to faculty, staff, students, and approved volunteers. The general public is effectively prohibited from these facilities.
Public libraries are similar. They may limit who can check out items to those who live in the area they are intended to serve, but they don't restrict the public from entering their buildings. I'm perfectly fine with thinking of them as public libraries.
In all fairness, public parks and libraries don't exactly prove that you can't refer to these schools as public. Instead, we need to find a closer comparison. What kind of publicly funded facility restricts access to the public and takes away rights and freedoms of those utilizing their services? Prisons.
Generally speaking, people do not refer to prisons funded and operated by the government as public prisons. Sure, you can run a search online and find some exceptions, but this terminology is not widely used. If they are not referred to as public prisons, how can we get away with referring to mindless drone factories as public schools?
Although I am open to gathering more information for my thoughts and opinions, I am a big believer in independent thought. It's a common occurrence for people to refer to them as government schools. In all honesty, that phrase has never quite sounded right to me. I view government as definitional to these facilities, but my terminology is a little different. As you should already be able to tell, I have been referring to them as government-run schools... and other less positive things.
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