In today’s local paper, the front page contained a story about an upcoming debate about private schools vs public schools taking place next week. Sadly the debate topic is something of a false alternative: Should Vermont school districts use tax money to fund public schools or pay tuition to private schools? Obviously missing is the idea that tax money should not be used at all for education and that government has no legitimate role in education.

What peaked my attention though was a quote displayed in the center of the article from Bill Mathis of the National Education Policy Center, who will be a panelist for the debate on the side of funding public schools. He was asked if two local private schools, Lyndon Institute and St. Johnsbury Academy, might choose to close rather than submit to further government controls, to which he replied:

“Maybe they shouldn’t be in business … There may not be any place for them.”

In the case of St. Johnsbury Academy, this is a school that is considered one of the better high schools in the country. From their website, here are a few highlights:

• The Academy enrolls 928 students in grades 9-12 and post-graduate
• Day students come from 50 Vermont and New Hampshire communities
• Boarding students come from 17 states and 26 countries
• The student teacher ratio is 8:1, the average class size is 12
• There are 107 full-time and 16 part-time faculty. 77% hold advanced (Master’s and Ph.D.) degrees
• The Academy offers more than 200 courses at four levels of difficulty
• 9 Technical programs
• Six Engineering courses
• Five foreign languages: Chinese, French, Japanese, Latin, Spanish
• The endowment is $18 million and the campus facilities are valued in excess of $50 million.

One has to wonder, if Bill Mathis is correct and there is no place for such a school, what exactly is there a place for? Another failing public school?