Clearly, the introduction of public education has had immense impact on American society. With it 's establishment historically, came a substantial accrual in the overall education level of the citizens of the United States. Recently, public education has become perceived as being the “standard” way to educate students. However, the history of public education is rather brief when compared with other education methods, there are numerous misconceptions regarding the quality of public education, and there are many detrimental effects on individuals and families, which are often overlooked in light of a handful of touted benefits.
A Historical View of Public Education Undeniably, public education has played a momentous role in history, from the eighteenth century and earlier, to the nineteenth century, and especially in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Although it has become the most conventional method of
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One common misconception about public education is that it is the only valid method of education in modern society. This is not true. There are a plethora of private and home education options available nationally. On average, homeschooled students receive considerably higher scores on standardized tests than public schooled students. While median scores for most standardized tests for public school students are around the fiftieth percentile, the median score of homeschoolers on the same standardized tests are in the eightieth percentile or higher, in all subjects. Many argue that the difference in standardized test scores is rendered null when one takes into account the matter of homeschooling families being of higher socioeconomic status, and the parents of such families having higher levels of formal education. However, the increased test scores among homeschoolers remains true regardless of their parents’ level of formal education or their family’s household income (“Home-schooling: Outstanding results on national tests,” The Washington