Public education or private education is one of the choices students and parents have to decide when going through the education system. With private education costing upwards of thousands of dollars for parents/students, the decision to choose private education over public education is less common.

The tuition cost for SAHS is $0. But the tuition cost for Chesterton, a private school, is $8,150.

Although the price gap is visible, private education has some advantages. Junior Zira Dezell and previously went to a private school, explained how private school was beneficial to her education.

“I feel like it [private school] really prepared me for high school and possibly even college,” Dezell said.

Private education does help students prepare for college in the way that it usually has a higher workload. But, Zira believes that public education has more access to college preparation because of “their [SAHS] counselor system.”

Ryan Miller is a US and AP US History teacher. He touched on the price gap between private and public education.

“[Private education] Cost and its impact is different for everyone, but at the high school level I do not believe it makes a difference,” Miller said. “I feel confident in saying the average public school will provide just as acceptable an education as a private school and an individual can save even more money for the next chapter of their life.”

As previously mentioned, there are fewer students enrolled in private schools as opposed to public schools. There are roughly 151 students attending Chesterton Academy, and 2,730 attending SAHS. This means the teacher-to-student ratio is higher. The teacher-to-student ratio at Chesterton is 1:7, while the ratio at SAHS is 1:27. This can be beneficial for certain students.

Junior Chloe Carlson said that the ratio “might be helpful to those kids who need more attention.”

Like private education, public education also does a good job of supporting students. Even though there are fewer teachers to students.

Carlson agreed with this by commenting on her personal experience with public education, “I feel like at Stillwater, if you need help, teachers are always there and there’s office hours, homework help and even peer tutoring.

There are several things to consider when deciding between attending a public school or a private school. Overall, public education is well-supported, and for economic reasons, is the right decision for most students. But for students who need a little more assistance in the classroom, private education may be the answer.