Desi Tamasha

Public Schools Debate

Some weekends back, I volunteered to paint some walls at a school in San Francisco with my co-workers. The school had an excellent campus (by my high school's standards) - many basketball courts, computers, good playground, small class sizes, a committed principal (and committed teachers too, I'd guess)... And yet, it is one of the not-so-good public schools, I was told. Struggling school.

I couldn't figure out. I was told that the most important factor in a good school vs not-so-good school in the Bay Area is the type of socio-economic background the kids come from. Parental role is the most important factor, according to some. I agree with the idea. But if you read the 'failed' public school debate (for example, in this Wall Street Journal article), parental role is never mentioned. Wonder why.