'This Is a Nice Private Public School'

By Lew Smith

The aura that surrounds private schools has taken control of the debate over public schools. Scratch beneath the surface of controversies over vouchers, or choice, or funding formulas, and you will find assumptions about the nature of private and public schools.

Consequently, we can ask ourselves three basic questions: Can public schools become as good as private schools are presumed to be? What would those reconfigured public schools look like? And, how would that conversion take place?

From my own recent experience, I offer the following case study that may answer...