Private Schools and Equal Educational Opportunity, United States and South Africa

Private schools are by definition nonpublic schools. Generally, they are created and sustained by the human constituencies served, rather than by the local, state, or governments within those jurisdictions. Unlike students in public schools, for whom the full cost of attendance is subsidized by the state, nonpublic school students need private capital in order to attend. Full tuition must be paid by families, by scholarships, or by special vouchers to the school. In the United States, for example, parents of school-age children pay taxes to support public schools along with the rest of the populace, but may separately arrange to cover full tuition for any of their children who attend nonpublic (private) schools.

As regionally accredited educational institutions, nonpublic schools adhere closely to a system of accountability based on state and national learning goals, as well as standardized testing. However, they are often exempt from regulations mandating teacher certification, union membership, particular grade-level curricula, and subject matter specializations. Beyond age-appropriate “basics,” nonpublic schools are free to innovate. Their missions frequently go well beyond required literacy and citizenship activities to include a radically different school design (e.g., in the United States, Waldorf Schools, and Schools Without Walls), a different approach to assessment (e.g., narrative evaluation or other non-letter grade systems), and thematic domains (e.g., religious, sectarian focus; multicultural or diversity focus; artistic-performing arts focus).

As private institutions, nonpublic schools are neither required nor obligated to embrace all student applicants, nor to retain students who do not fit their individually identified missions, whether or not the applicants meet the ongoing standards for admission and retention. By law, nonpublic schools cannot be capricious and discriminate against prospective students on the basis of their race, national origin, or disability, but they do not have to be universally open to all. In the United [Page 1703]States, private schools carefully balance the national value of “equal educational opportunity for all children and students” with their foregone and understood prerogatives. In South Africa, similar challenges exist, although a more recent history of apartheid (racially motivated political disenfranchisement, economic oppression, and segregation) prevails.