Re: Do public schools look down on private schools?

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Interesting comments.

I taught in parochial (Catholic) schools for the first ten years of
my career. Now, entering my 18th year in public school (28th
overall), I believe I have a better perspective than I have in the
past.

While I do not think, neccesarily, that public school teachers look
down upon private school teachers, I think there is the notion that
private school teachers are, somewhat, sheltered from some of the
worst problems in education. Having seen both sides of the
proverbial fence, I can see both folly and fact here.

Anyone who thinks private school teachers don't deal with problems,
most likely, has never taught in a private school. Private schools
deal with a whole different set of problems than most public school
teachers. Helicopter parents exist in both realms. There is no
escape from that. But in the private realm, many parents figure they
are your boss because they pay for their child's education. If you
have weak or easily manipulated administration, as I did while in
all three of the catholic schools I worked in, then that
complicates everything even more. As faculty, we were proverbial
"road kill" for those overly involved parents and their corrupt
kids. Sorry to put it that way, but those were the facts. Some of
the cruelest and most twisted people I ever dealt with, in all of my
28 years in the classroom, were in the catholic schools I worked in
 

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