Which is better private or public schools in British columbia?

Q: In the Vancouver, burnaby areas

A: When you read the results of the Fraser Institute tests of all the different elementary and high schools, there are some crucial things to keep in mind. Private schools have the benefit of being able to pick and choose their students, whereas children within public schools attend school with all types of other kids. With public schools having the kids who have learning disabilities, language differences, the Fraser Institute scores are a bit skewed. Obviously a school with several kids with learning disabilities and a handful of ESL kids writing the tests will do poorly on the test, compared to a private school that can pick and choose their students. Private schools also have access to far more $ than public schools. Unfortunately, this means that the kids in public schools will go on fewer field trips. Generally speaking, the parents of kids in private schools have more money, and thus the kids potentially have more access to activities outside of school that many kids in public school do not. If you look at the high scoring schools (public and private) on the fraser-institute surveys, you will note that the majority of these schools are in more affluent areas. The poorest scoring schools are more often than not in poor, rural and often native-regions. I'm not trying to paint a glum picture of public schools - rather trying to point out some of the reasons that privates schools seem to do better on the Fraser Institute scores are beyond whether the school is good or bad. There are some fabulous teachers and schools that fare poorly on those tests.

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