It's seems the better option is to homeschool or use a local homeschool pod
We've always supported public schools but as a Florida resident, a private teacher is looking more and more like the better alternative.
Because it's a strictly zero-sum situation. Removing one teacher from public teaching in favor of teaching 5 kids privately means those 15 other kids still in public school need to find another teacher. Since there's already a shortage of teachers, it seems unfortunate that the "smart move" on the individual level is to exacerbate the collective issue even more.
It might be great for your kid, sure, but overall it's pretty unfortunate.
For example, public schools typically demand very specific credentials before they employ someone in a teaching position. Individuals or private institutions might have different demands here. I certainly know personally a lot of people who I'd gladly hire to teach my kids, but who do not fulfill the requirements the public schools set upon teachers.
Second, there's no such thing as "shortage" in absolute terms. There is only shortage at a given price point. If government finds it hard to hire people, tough shit, maybe it should pay more, or demand less at the current wages? Government is not entitled to artificially cheap labor, and if it finds itself unable to compete for the workers, who are poached by the private sector, maybe it should just outsource the entire enterprise to organization more capable at the task?
Maybe the definition of zero-sum, in the economic sense, is the wrong phrase. But there's still only so many people who can be (or are willing to be, qualified to be, whatever) teaching class in a public school tomorrow.
>I certainly know personally a lot of people who I'd gladly hire to teach my kids, but who do not fulfill the requirements the public schools set upon teachers.
Cool. If that was the case for all of the private teaching pods, my opinion would probably be different.
>Second, there's no such thing as "shortage" in absolute terms. There is only shortage at a given price point. [...]
Yeah, I agree, and I have no idea why the rest of the paragraph is written as if I wouldn't agree. Teachers should get paid more (and/or reduced workload) given their importance. Whatever lets to largest amount of kids grow up with a good education.
I don't think going private with 5 kid pods is going to give the largest amount of kids a good education, and I think that's unfortunate, because that seems to be the best route for teacher's who are trying to live a decent life.
Where I am, the good private schools charge about 30% less tuition than the public school district spends per student. This means that providing good schooling is very much possible at what government spends. Food stamps do not have to be spent on government-produced food in government stores. Section 8 vouchers do not have to be spent on government-owned housing. Why not just do the same with education?
In any case, there are plenty of examples in the US as well. Private education can successfully compete with public education, despite great structural disadvantages (private schools literally have to compete with free product). Using EBT at Walmart works better than government cheese. Section 8 housing works better than the projects. VA hospitals are not exactly preferred to regular ones by the public.
In general, in the US, the government doesn’t directly run too many things other than the regulatory agencies. Most of what it does is already outsourced. The US government doesn’t build infrastructure, doesn’t design or build military hardware etc., and most people (not just the straw man Ayn Rand fans in your head) would recoil in horror at the idea of government directly hiring people, buying materials, and managing operations.
Unfortunate is for the public schools though as there are now fewer teachers available to hire. There's teacher shortages in almost every state in the country.
edit: also - homeschooling/private teachers are much more efficient. An elementary school day takes more like 2 hours instead of 7, and there's basically zero after-hours work. Do you know any teachers who would give up public school to work 2-3 hours a day for 70k a year with no all-night grading/etc? Cause my bet is it's a huge majority of them.
You could also get access to a larger pool of potential teachers (with STEM backgrounds even!): I don't think I'd ever consider teaching public school for any pay level at this point, but I could see myself teaching some of my neighbors' kids with mine in a few years for cheap/free if there were interest.
The small "class" sizes and much greater autonomy would be big non-tangible benefits though. And of course these arrangements can have more... flexible tax reporting.
https://www.salary.com/tools/salary-calculator/public-school...