Private Schools: Good for Families, Good for Texas
TANS exists to advocate for strong private schools. In doing that, though, we are advocates for all Texans and for a collectively prosperous future.
The value of private schooling to parents is much more profound than anything that can be determined in a test score. Parents want their kids to be educated the right way. As those who have the most vital interest in their children, parents know best what that means.
Private schools also broaden the educational experiences of Texas children, because they are free to teach what they consider important, in the manner they consider appropriate. Texas parents support private schools in such large numbers (about 300,000 students attend private schools at last count by the U.S. Department of Education), because private schools have this unique ability.
The effect on Texas is that hundreds of thousands of students are being educated in a multitude of ways that provide diversity and creativity to our collective public mind. Very few would argue that we do not need a strong public school system, even one that focuses on test scores as a criterion of quality. But good public schools are not enough. We also need the dynamic individualism of private schools shaping the lives of students on whom we will rely to make invaluable contributions to our state's future.
