> 5yo asked me "what is private school?"

> Followed by lots of idiocy, but what do you expect from Octodon?

Look, Bozo. I support public schools, but I know from personal experience that they cannot and will not meet every student's needs. Instead of feeling threatened that alternative systems exist, why not rejoice?

Every family that sends their kids to private / church schools still pays any taxes that would go to support the public school system, but they don't cost the system any money.

Additionally, I raised three boys who would not have graduated had there not been alternative educational systems in place. And I still believe that one year in a church-affiliated high school saved my life by keeping me out of a gang-infested high school with loads of on-campus violence (but different gangs than the prior high school, so there was none of the "we grew up together" to protect me).

Son_1 lucked out because he had a severe foot break that took about three years to fully heal, so the school district put him on a home tutor program through the continuation school. He returned to the main campus about six weeks before graduation.

Son_2 and Half_son were able to get into a charter school in middle school, which enabled them to escape the public campuses (including violence, overwhelmed teachers who were so busy with problem kids that they couldn't help anyone else, racial tensions, and both teachers & counselors who didn't believe these guys could do anything).

So, yes. I'm a big supporter of church-affiliated schools and charter schools, because I've seen their benefits up close. And none of this means I oppose or wish to harm / close public schools*. Four of my sisters and one niece work / worked in the public school system.

I do want to reform them by capping salaries and benefits for the administrators. I think taking away the ability to divert all the money to themselves will cause many of the worst school administrators to leave the system entirely, while leading to supplies and equipment reaching the classroom and pay reaching teachers, improving things for our students.