Check Out Urban Private Schools

Parents all across America are preparing now to send their children back to school. About 90% will send their children to public schools, and most of the rest will send them to private schools--an option that some families mistakenly feel is beyond their reach.

The National Assn. of Educational Progress this month released a study showing that only 15% of California public school fourth-graders and 18% of eighth-graders are performing proficiently. Half of the California students performed at “below basic level” but that figure jumped to 75% for the African American population and two-thirds for the Latino population.

California was ranked among the 10 worst states in the country. Within the state, the Los Angeles Unified School District was among the poorest-performing districts.

These statistics are not given to heap abuse upon the LAUSD. There is indication, especially in the earlier grades, that some progress has been made. And it is also true that these statistical comparisons invite selectivity, if not downright manipulation. Still, there is a huge problem brewing for the future of Los Angeles. If we cannot educate the next generation for life’s challenges, the costs we will pay in terms of declining economic capability, growing social tensions, and increasing crime rates will be enormous.

Last year’s LAUSD budget was $8.9 billion for the 723,000 students, or $12,300 a year per student. Admittedly a portion is related to some one-time administrative costs, but with ever-increasing numbers of students, the LAUSD is frantic to build new schools and to hire more teachers.

Absent a magic bullet, Los Angeles parents can still take advantage of existing, proven assets: the private schools.

There are at least upward of 14,000 spots in the private schools of Los Angeles. The graduation rates in these schools are above 90%, while the public high school rate is somewhere between 50% to 60%.

Studies show consistently that attendees of urban, racially integrated private schools graduate and go on to college at significantly higher rates than their counterparts who attend public schools.

With private philanthropic support locally and nationally since September 1999, the nonprofit Los Angeles Children’s Scholarship Fund has administered 3,750 partial scholarships to low-income families with children attending about 400 elementary schools in urban Los Angeles. These are not exclusive, private schools for the rich. The average tuition is $2,400 per pupil.

The families who receive these scholarships have an average income of about $20,500. To qualify they simply must meet the same low-income criteria as that which qualifies them for the federal lunch program. These parents pay, on average, about $1,200 to send their children to these schools.

About half of these schools are Catholic, but the rest are either organized by other religious denominations or are secular. The religion, or the lack of religion, makes no difference. What does matter is that the parents are willing to put in a portion of their own money so their child can attend the school of their choice.

So a parent who faces sending a child to a school that is the worst in a poorly performing district might have a choice through these partial scholarships. Such an option would be good for that family, and it would also relieve some of the stress on the cramped and failing public schools. But the biggest beneficiary would be the child.