Private Schools Failing the Test

* In your Sept. 20 story, “Davis, Lungren Differ on School Funds, Vouchers,” Dan Lungren is quoted as saving that vouchers are “the quickest way to create an incentive for those who operate the public schools . . . to do a better job.”

Presumably, this opinion is based on the belief that private schools are superior to public schools and competition would force public schools to improve.

Where does this perception come from? If private schools are superior to public schools, why aren’t their test scores printed in The Times alongside those from public schools?

If all schools’ test scores were printed, the public would immediately learn that the highest test scores in Orange County are achieved at public schools, not private schools.

Of course, the quality of a school is more than just the test scores of high achievers. Who is doing a better job teaching limited-English, learning-disabled and physically disabled students?

Some of the best football teams in the county can be found at private schools. However, county residents must look to public schools to find the best baseball, academic decathlon and mock-trial teams.

If Lungren is sincere in his belief that competition between public and private schools will improve the education of all of California’s students, I hope he will encourage private schools to stop hiding test results.

When the public has the opportunity to objectively compare the performance of all schools, it will be clear that the best schools in Orange County are public, not private.

ROBERT THOMAS

Yorba Linda