[dragonwriter]

> Private schools don't have tenure and cost on average about half as much per student as public schools do.

Private schools should cost less per student because most of them systematically exclude the most expensive to educate students.

Public schools don't have that luxury.

[glenra]

That is a popular story, but I'm pretty sure it's not true. Do you have a source?

I suspect you're thinking of the sort of elite academy type schools that have tough entrance exams - but those are a very tiny fraction of private schools. There also exist private schools that that take anyone who applies and even private schools that specialize in special-needs students.

Also: in several parts of the US (including all of Florida, Ohio, Georgia and Utah as well as various municipal districts), special-needs students actually have their own separate voucher system which parents can use to attend private schools because the public schools aren't good at educating those kids.