Misconception #170: Private schools lack accountability

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.

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One argument that some have made against school choice is that private schools lack the same accountability found in the government-controlled model. In one sense, this is correct. Government-controlled schools are accountable to bureaucrats. So are private schools, but not to the same extent.

This argument strongly implies that overall accountability is more limited in the private sector. This is simply not true. Private schools are far more accountable to the families they are supposed to serve. If a private school is run as poorly as the government-controlled model, they will go out of business.

This form of accountability is non-existent in the government-controlled model. As long as they are complying with the law, performance is irrelevant. Actually, that's not quite true. The government-controlled model frequently cites poor performance as an argument in favor of increased funding. In other words, those schools are rewarded for failing to meet the needs of their students. That's not a strong form of accountability.

Both forms of schooling have accountability, but the nature of the accountability is drastically different. Government-controlled schools are accountable to bureaucrats. Private schools are accountable to the families they serve. Personally, I'm not too concerned with the private sectors reduced accountability to bureaucrats. I'm far more concerned with the government-controlled model's complete lack of accountability to those they are expected to serve.

If you really want to talk about improving accountability, I definitely have a preference. I would rather introduce the government-controlled model to accountability to families than to make the private sector accountable to the same bureaucrats. How do we do this? By allowing families to pull their children from schools that don't meet their needs and allowing them to take their funds with them. That is the concept of choice.