I'm going to offer one statement with my personal opinion on/experience with public schooling, but then I'm going to play the devil's advocate in the annoying way that only a childless person can do.

Overall, I am very pro public school. I had a great public school experience with many teachers who went completely above and beyond to ensure that I received a quality education that capitalized on my personal strengths and interests. I also had parents who were on me like a chicken on a june bug, so whether I felt like making the most of my educational opportunities or not, I still had to produce at the level at which they felt I was capable or I paid the consequences. Moreover, my parents were not just visible and active at home; they showed their faces at school and my teachers knew that they were engaged in my education.

That said, what if your child is in a struggling school system mired down by difficult socioeconomic circumstances, underfunding, an overall lack of parental involvement and burnt out teachers? Like it or not, that is very often the case in may public schools. So many pieces go into play when creating a learning environment. I certainly hit the jackpot from an educational standpoint. However, it is naive to think that occurs even a majority of the time now. It is not to say that you cannot overcome difficult circumstances; people do it every day. I just don't know that if I could leave my child in a truly struggling environment that only a major overhaul dependent on something other than my effort along with the effort of every other parent I could rally (and I come from a line of PTO moms that mean business).

Even childless, my instinct is to provide the best, the most ideal, circumstances as possible. Maybe that in itself is a problem. Maybe too many people never have to struggle in this day and age. Evan so, I still have to ask myself if I would risk my child's education and future on a half-baked theory that the struggle and bigger picture of life that he or she might receive in the public school system is worth it.

I probably need to write my own post about this, but for Christians, I think that we need to think as much about our influence in the schools as we do what will be best for our kids. The Lord has called us to be salt and light in the world, yet many, many Christians have their kids in home-school or private Christian school, where their kids will not rub shoulders with anyone who doesn't know Jesus. I know that different kids have different needs and I can respect that, but for most, I think that it is not a choice based on the needs of their kids but rather based on a theology that says that the "world" will get your kids if you don't hide them away. I'm tired. Maybe that was too harsh. No offense anyone. This is the less-grace-filled version of what I think.

I kind of buy into what you're saying Marsh, and I guess what I was thinking about is how lucky Halleigh is to have all the advantages that she does, which gives us the freedom to be that salt in the world without worrying that we are ruining our daughter's life.

On the other hand, I do have hesitations about risking the best possible academic education for my daughter for the sake of whatever influence (which seems so small) we can have in a potentially-lacking public school setting.

No one has to solve that debate for me--I'm simply expressing my train of thought.

In one of my education classes, the professor told us that the ONLY factor that research can repeatedly and conclusively link to students' educational performance is the educational/socio-economic status of the parents. Not quality of instruction, not quality of the facility, not class size, etc., etc. That lecture is seared in my brain.

I'm not trying to parent other people's children or be judgmental about others' choices when I'm not in their positions, but I really do ask Christians to include the question of not just, "What is best for my child?" but also, "What is best for all of the children (whom God loves desperately) in my community?" in their decision making processes. It almost seems that those of us who have children with all of the advantages that Miles names that Halleigh has and who have the resources to be really positive in a school community (world-recognized resources and the resources of our Father who is building a redemptive Kingdom) should be really careful about bailing on an institution that is accessible and provides access to all kinds of people. To those to whom much has been given... Blessed to be a blessing...

A parent whom I respect a lot told me once, "We are really committed to home-schooling our children and making sure that they learn what they need to learn, but we are also very committed to their going to the public schools. They can learn things in public school that we could never teach them at home and if there is anything lacking academically, we make sure to take care of that at home." This parent participated in her brand of "home-schooling" with not just her kids, but with other kids from the public school by doing things like inviting girls from her daughter's class over to their house in the summers for Science Club, etc.

We are struggling right now with that decision that we'll be making in the next couple years.

Right now Daniel is in a preschool with mostly white, entirely middle class suburban children. We made the decision based on a lot of factors but that was not part of it. It's kind of funny, because the church that we go to has members of all races, nationalities, and socioeconomic strata. And there is something there that Daniel's preschool church doesn't have (that I can see, anyway).

I think for the moment we will be sending Daniel to public school. I think it is important for him to realize that everyone does NOT have the same level of privilege that we have (even with all the issues we DO have). Everyone does not live in a two parent home, everyone does not have enough money to pay their bills, everyone does not know Jesus like we do.

If I can't teach my child from an early age to care for people who are not like him, people who are made in Christ's image, then I have failed in my duty as a parent far and above whether I send him to a private/public school. I've not got it all figured out just yet, and don't mean to sound preachy. But it's a bit arrogant of me to think that my child is entitled to more than other people's children when they were all formed by the same God.