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Jenna Nash
AP English Language and Composition
Mr. Lane
4.2.2011
Education Essay—Second Draft
Catholic versus Public Schools
“The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future life.” This quote from the world-renowned scholar, Plato, recognizes that there are many different directions that education may take in a person’s life. Today, there are various types of education and educational systems—public schools, private schools, Catholic, Sudbury, home schooling, and even cyber schooling. There are hundreds upon thousands of schools, though recently there have been many debates between the merits of Catholic and public schools. A number of studies about different educational systems have recently suggested that there are only few differences between Catholic and public schools. From curricula and mission statements to SAT performance and graduation requirements, many people believe that there are differences between Catholic and public schools. However, is one or the other truly better? There are benefits to both methods of schooling, each having value, simply in different ways; both Catholic and public schools are able to achieve the production of great students that have equal potential to do great things.
The standard way of thinking about Catholic schools has it that they are more challenging than public schools based upon their curricula. Catholic and public schools across the nation have similar core curricula—that is math, science, English or language arts, and history. The ways in which these courses are taught also vary across the nation depending upon the difficulty

Nash 2 of the class, the teacher, and the material being taught. These factors all affect a high school class and the students that are in attendance to learn. Fairview High School and Mercyhurst
Preparatory School are two of the top high schools in our area. Both schools have similar core curricula, though there are also many differences, as one is a public school and the other is a
Catholic school. At Fairview, it takes a total of twenty-nine credits and an additional graduation project to graduate (Fairview); at Mercyhurst, it takes a total of thirty credits and twenty-five hours of community service per year to graduate (Mercyhurst). The requirements for available classes, such as those of core classes, vary dramatically. Graduation requirements at Fairview mandate that students must have completed: four credits of English, social studies, science, and math; a half-credit of health and of driver’s education; two credits of physical education and world language; one credit of computer application and; ten elective credits (Fairview). To graduate at Mercyhurst students must have completed: four years of theology, English, social studies and, physical education; three years of math, science, and health; two years of world language and technology; and one year of creative arts (Mercyhurst). Comparatively, these curricula are relatively similar. One may even believe that Fairview students face a tougher curriculum because they are required to take four credits, or years, of core classes. Of course, many will probably disagree on the grounds that Catholic schools, such as Mercyhurst, are more challenging due to the fact that they treat theology and religious classes as core classes; this adds another difficult class to the workload of the Catholic school students. However, they are treating math and science as less important courses by only requiring three years of classes. Whereas
Mercyhurst is more likely to want their students to become religious and learned members of society, Fairview would want their students to become developed wholly academically in order to help the world to the best of their abilities.

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“Education, after all, is a process intended to produce a product,” this quote from
Francine Prose concisely summarizes one of the goals of receiving an education. Most every school has a mission statement, that is, the overall goal that the school wishes for its students to achieve. At most Catholic schools, along with a mission statement, there is also a belief statement; a belief statement describes what the school as a whole believes and wishes to impress upon its students. At Fairview the mission statement is “Developing the whole student.
Achieving excellence in academics, athletics, and the arts (Fairview).” This demonstrates the true goal of Fairview High School, to develop complete and capable students. Fairview students are able to take a variety of courses ranging from applied to Advanced Placement, participate on various sports teams during all seniors, and develop their artistic skills in a variety of mediums.
Mercyhurt’s mission statement is
[T]o prepare students from all religious and ethnic backgrounds for a successful, productive, and compassionate life in an ever-changing and interdependent world.
[…] We strive for excellence in academic and co-curricular programs [and] we promote service to our local and global communities. (Mercyhurst)
Mercyhurst focuses their goals for their students on the development of independence and academic excellence. Mercyhurst also offers many courses ranging from International
Baccalaureate to college prep, sports teams, and a wide range of artistic mediums. Both schools place a large amount of focus and importance on academics; Fairview offers Advanced
Placement classes, and Mercyhurst offers International Baccalaureate classes. Each school strives and is able to produce students that are wholly developed, mature, and capable of being independent. Students are given a wide variety of options when it comes to academic courses, sports, and the arts. Depending upon the determination and motivation of the student, both

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Catholic and public students are capable of accomplishing the same goals and achieving equal amount of success. With this in mind, is there a difference between Catholic and public school students? Recently, course descriptions and academic performance are being compared, as well as SAT performance and scores.
While today there are few socioeconomic differences between public and Catholic schools, studies have shown that Catholic schools are still performing better on tests of developed abilities, that is, the SATs. “It appears that private schools simply have higher percentages of students who would perform well in any environment based on their previous performance and background observes Jack Jennings, the president of the Center on Education
Policy (Cloud)”. If any Catholic student were to be placed in a public school, their performance would be the same and vice versa. The essence of Jennings’ argument is that Catholic and public school students are equal. So where is the SAT advantage coming from? “[I]t appears [Catholic] schools do more to develop students' critical-thinking abilities—not just the rote memorization required to do well on achievement tests (Cloud),” answers researcher and essayist John Cloud.
Different course outlines and syllabi between Catholic and public schools may offer Catholic school students an edge when it comes to developed abilities tests. The NCEA, or National
Catholic Education Association, is an organization associated with seven million students and over two hundred thousand educators. Though a Catholic foundation, the NCEA is an unbiased source that provides information on schools across the nation including public schools.
According to the NCEA, the 2010 mean SAT scores for public schools were 498 in critical reading, 511 in mathematics, and 488 in writing (NCEA). The mean SAT scores for Catholic schools were 533 in critical reading, 534 in mathematics, and 530 in writing (NCEA). These scores show slight but evident differences. The way in which teachers present subjects and

Nash 5 course materials to students may effect their learning patterns and developed abilities. At
Fairview, average SAT scores are 535 in verbal and 546 in mathematics (Fairview). Fairview’s scores are comparable and even better than those of the national Catholic school average. This shows that a school’s ability and performance are dependent upon the strength of the teachers, the motivation of the students, and the subject matter of available classes. For this reason, no educational system is clearly better than the other.
Conventional wisdom has it that graduation rates are higher in Catholic schools, and this is true. According to the NCEA, the average graduation rate in Catholic schools is ninety-nine percent and in public schools is only eighty-six percent (NCEA). This great difference may occur due to the fact that all Catholic schools are also private schools. These schools require a payment of tuition and do not have to accept all students, namely those students who are lazy, unintelligent, or unmotivated. Public schools are required by the law to accept all students; this includes the students that are lazy, unmotivated, or that may need extra time and help with their studies. Catholic schools reserve the right to be exclusive while public schools are willing to accept any student. At Fairview, the graduation rate is ninety-eight percent (Fairview); at
Mercyhurst, the rate is one hundred percent (Mercyhurst). Many people assume that those students that do not perform well in their freshman, sophomore, or junior year of high school at a
Catholic school transfer to a less challenging or public school. Again, the graduation rate, as well as the success of students, at any school depends upon the strength of the teachers, the type of students, and the courses that they are offered. While it is true that Catholic schools have higher graduation rates, it does not necessarily follow that Catholic schools are better than public schools.
Both Catholic and public schools have merits and are equal in educational value, though

Nash 6 there are differences in curricula, goals of the schools, SAT performances, and graduation rates.
According to a recent study done by the CEP, the Center on Education Policy, “[Catholic] school students and public school students perform equally on achievement tests in math, reading, science, and history (CEP).” Although I grant that Catholic schools perform higher on the
SAT’s, I still maintain that Catholic and public schools have equal potential to achieve and both have merits. As a final point, it is not the type of educational system that a student receives that improves their development, it is the means in which it is received.

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Works Cited
The Center on Education Policy. “Public versus Private Schools: New Study Says there is No
Difference.”
Education Portal.
The Center on Education Policy, 12 Oct. 2007. Web. 9
Mar. 2011.
Cloud, John. "Are Private Schools Really Better?." TIME . TIME Magazine, 10 Oct. 2007. Web.
9 Mar. 2011.
Fairview School District. "Fairview High School Information." Fairview School District .
Fairview School District, n.d. Web. 9 Mar. 2011.
Mercyhurst Preparatory School. "MPS Graduation Requirements." Mercyhurst Preparatory
School . Mercyhurst Preparatory School, n.d. Web. 9 Mar. 2011.
National Catholic Educational Association. "Mean SAT Scores: 2010." National Catholic
Educational Association . National Catholic Educational Association, n.d. Web. 9 Mar.
2011.
Source Hyperlinks
The Center on Education Policy: Public versus Private Schools, New Study Says there is
No Difference
TIME Magazine: Are Private Schools Really Better?
Fairview High School Information: School Overview, Curriculum, and Mission
Statement
Mercyhurst Preparatory School: Graduation Requirements and Mission Statement
National Catholic Education Association: Mean SAT Scores 2010