Walking down a school hall with shiny waxed marble flooring and smooth stone walls so high they could have reached heaven I wondered what it would be like coming to this school. Moving farther down the hall I came upon two massive doors. I gazed upon a magnificent gym that could hold 2000 cheering fans. On one wall stood a trophy case full of trophies
that stretched the length of a gym. Gazing at all of those silver and bronze trophies, it became quit obvious that the school had done well in athletics and academics. I looked closer at a trophy recently won saying Judge Memorial First Place track 2007. At that moment I realized all the trophies before me had been won by one of the biggest private schools in the state of Utah. This isn’t fair, why should this private school have the privilege of recruiting amazing students and athletes across the country to compete against the public schools that can’t recruit students?
Competition in high schools is very important to some students and the community. Schools like to bring fame, honor and respect by saying they are number one. Some of the questions I bring to attention are, “Do private schools have the franchise on winning state titles?” Are the public schools being cheated by the private schools that have ability to recruit students form across the nations? Should the private schools be able to compete with public schools in athletic and academic events? Or should the government categorize private and public into their own divisions?
I have walked down the halls of Judge Memorial, Layton Christian, Wasatch Academy, West Ridge, Oakley, Tuacahn, and Jan Diego and have seen the endless amount of trophies won by these schools that that could have been earned by the public schools. Over the years West Ridge Academy has won three consecutive State Championships in 1A Baseball. Oakley Academy has won three state championships and two third places in cross county over the last ten years. Layton Christian has won one state championship in basketball and two thirds places over five years. Endless private schools titles have taken away what should have been public school titles by having the ability to recruit and it shows that private schools have the hold on winning.
Competing against these private schools I have personally watched private schools take endless state championships, as well as second and third places. There is no worse feeling then when a good solid team or athlete is defeated because their opponent’s school has money to recruit more accomplished students.
Public schools are having their chance at performing well in athletics and education taken away by private schools. Private schools have the ability to recruit students to making their school name go up in status. Public schools only get what is offered to them by the state.
All private schools should be categorized into their own division not being allowed to play public schools in region or state games. Categorizing these private schools into their own division would allow the public schools to have an equal chance at achieving more and thus bringing more respect to schools. If the private schools were put into their own division this would stop student athletes from public schools transferring to private school because of the schools popularity. Private schools should be categorized according to the size of their enrollment.
In the state of Utah it is against UHSAA (Utah High School Athletic Association) rules for any athlete from one public school to transfer to another public school for athletic reasons. If the student athlete does transfer, they have to be suspended for one year from competing. This rule does not apply to students who transfer to private schools, but rule is not applied with private schools recruiting. Private schools need to follow public school rules to make the playing ground level.
Private schools give scholarships and grants to individual students. When private schools give these grants the students become interested in joining the academies. Because public schools do not offer these grants and scholarships, they lose their best students to private academies and usually end up being beaten in most aspects of education, the arts, and athletics. But public schools are free for any person to attend.
Is it fair that a family can not send their child to a private school because they were not offered a grant or scholarship or because they don’t have the money to pay? Should it be fare that your neighbor, whose family is wealthy, can afford to send their children to any private school that competes against public students that don’t have a specialized education? These private schools are paying teachers and coaches as much as two to five times the money that any public school teacher or coach could make. Because private schools can afford to pay more for much better educators, public schools are losing their best teacher, coaches and their best students. Public schools are competing against the best money can buy. That makes money a factor for education which is not fare to the public schools. This is what separates private and public schools, and which also should separate private competing against public.
Private schools specialize in one subject or sometimes even more. The private schools objective is for students to be come successful in a major category. When the school is recognized for its success more students are encouraged to attend that school. Eventually the school becomes superior in that field of study.
Private school have the ability to control the size of there enrollment, which factors out who they want and don’t want in their schools. This also allows them to control what division they would like to be put into such as 2A division etc. Some private schools also separate their gender allowing the choice of girls or boys to be higher. For example West Ridge Academy has 140 boys compared to another 1A public school which would have an average of 75 boys, the other half being girls. And their male students are all recruited giving them double the advantage. Public school can not control their enrollment size or are they allowed to be in the division of choice nor can they separate gender.
Privately owned schools have the advantage over public schools in sports and education by having the power to recruit students and better educators. Why should private schools be able to take the credit for championships in academics and sports when there was only the talk of money to buy great athletes and educators in their schools? Private schools have the franchise in all aspects of education and sports in the state of Utah because they have the power to advertise and be sponsored. Private schools should be put in their own divisions making it private against private. By the examples explained above private schools need to be extended from the public school division. Only public schools should be given the chance to win state and region titles in the public school system, both academically and athletically. A public school athlete should not have to feel defeated by a private school that had more money to buy better students.