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Comment by tialaramex | Hacker News Reader

[[ In the British system the thing that makes a Public School different isn't whether it's run by the state (those are State Schools) but the fact that it's open _to_ the public. Historically some schools were exclusively for (children of) members of an organisation, for example a school might be for Roman Catholics, or members of the livery company of goldsmiths, or businessmen of a certain city. The Public Schools didn't care who you were, or where you came from, only that your money was good. ]]

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State schools is a much better term IMO.

That doesn't accurately describe very many K-12 schools in the US though.

District? County? Government?

Why not just public? It makes perfect sense.

Because it's literally the opposite meaning to most other countries.

No, it's opposite of Britain, most countries are in line with the USA in this regard, including former British Colonies like Australia. Britians history is the only reason their version sense, it's very unintuitive.

Yup. Lots of things are weird in Britain because it's old, this doesn't make those things a good idea to be copied. Though it also isn't a reason to dismiss them. Old isn't necessarily bad.

Britain's railway signalling is crazy because Britain's railways pre-date railway signalling. If you build a brand new railway you definitely shouldn't repeat mistakes from the 19th century.

Britain drives on the Left. Should you drive on the left too? Only if your neighbors do.

But on the other hand Britain decided to buy up all the doctors and hospitals and stuff to give everybody healthcare and that's worked out pretty well.

The British term makes so much more sense to me.

British public schools are run by members of the public for any members of the public (who can pay and pass the exam).

American public schools are run by local government only for people the local government wants to admit (based on where you live etc).

American public schools are open to the entire public within the area they serve. Private schools are only open to those who can pay.

Yes, one is public with lots of caveats. The other is public with one or no caveats, ie. where do you live? I'm homeless. Doesn't matter, you're enrolled.

> American public schools are run by local government only for people the local government wants to admit

Eh? Everyone is admitted to public schools in America. You often don't get the choose the specific school, but everyone has the right to a place in a school.

Not being able to choose the specific school is a huge deal though.

In the same school system, some of the schools are out-of-this-world, while others are zoos.

If I had the choice between sending my kids to some of the schools I went to growing up, or letting them stay home and watch cartoons all day, I'd choose the latter. At least they're not going to get shivved watching Adventure Time.

Many states, and even local municipalities, have "school of choice" program that, while somewhat restricted, allow children to attend a school they would prefer between districts and many times between different geographical regions. (I presently live in one such state that offers this). There are a lot of factors at play there, but being able to choose the school you want to attend is available in the states.

The public school movement in the UK was all about letting members of the public choose a specific school without being constrained by things that they cannot control like the area they lived in (or what organisation their parents worked for).

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