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Once children have graduated from diapers and baby food, the next big decision for parents becomes where to send their precious tots to school. There are many choices available to parents today, from the neighborhood school down the street to charter and private schools in the area. How does a parent know which school will be the best fit for his child? The choice is never easy, but it helps to weigh the pros and cons of each of these types of schools to see which might present the greatest benefit.

Cost

One of the first variables parents must weigh when comparing the various types of schools is cost. Public schools are “free” institutions by law, although they may charge fees and students may be required to provide their own supplies. Charter schools are also considered public schools, so there is no tuition cost assessed. However, private schools can – and do – charge tuition to students and their parents, and in some cases, those costs can be rather high.

According to a report at , the average tuition cost for private secondary schools during the 2007-2008 school year was around $10,500. also cites statistics from the National Catholic Education Association that show while private parochial schools tend to charge lower tuition rates, the average tuition for these schools is still around $2,600 for elementary schools and nearly $7,000 for secondary schools.

Enrollment

Public schools are required to accept

High school athletics has become a complex maze of rules and regulations in some states. At the crux of the issue is fairness, which is debated through school boundaries, student eligibility and recruitment rules for high school coaches. Now, two states are taking the proverbial bull by the horns to address these issues in an effort to make high school athletics a level playing field once again.

The Public v. Private Debate in Ohio

Recent talks about splitting teams from private and public schools into separate tournaments in Ohio appear to be on the back burner. A new proposal to combine schools in the state to a single tournament structure that would bring “competitive balance.” According to a report in the , the new proposal came about after months of work by a competitive balance committee for the state.

Previous referendums involved penalizing private schools that have a winning tradition or offering additional help to schools with serious socioeconomic issues. The new proposal does away with these factors, and instead adjusts enrollment numbers for each school based on students that live outside the school’s district. Private schools would also be evaluated based on the district where they are located, according to the .

“It is generally believed that in addition to the size of enrollment, students on a team’s roster who are from outside that school’s geographic boundary or attendance zone does affect athletic success,” Dan Ross, commissioner

Success breeds popularity, but in Baltimore County Schools, that popularity can be more than school officials bargained for. Overcrowding has become a serious problem for many successful schools in this large county, leaving few options for a district that has little money in the budget for expansion. However, doing nothing is not viable either, as future projections show the problem growing rather than subsiding.

According to a recent report at the , 2012 enrollment for Baltimore County is 106,885 students. By 2020, that number is expected to jump to 111,488, with steady increases annually until that time. The report used Cohort Survival Methodology to make the predictions listed, assuming students will enroll through the grade levels sequentially. In addition, new housing construction in the area was considered as the projections were calculated.

Schools Deal with Tough Conditions

Overcrowding issues impact numerous schools throughout Baltimore County. The recently reported on three Maryland schools that are well over capacity; Hillcrest Elementary, Westchester Elementary, and Catonsville Elementary. Of the three, Hillcrest appears to be suffering the most right now, with a student body of 841 students in a building designed to hold just 666. Likewise, Westchester has an excess of 85 students over capacity, and Catonsville currently boasts 31 students over their capacity limit.

With nearly 200 students over capacity, Hillcrest faces a myriad of issues, from frequently stopping toilets to classes assembling in hallways. Lunch “hour” lasts almost

No Child Left Behind set a lofty goal some years ago that included a minimum graduation rate of 90 percent in every school district across the country. While many school districts have reached or are nearing that goal, one of the largest school districts in the country, Memphis City Schools, still faces a wide chasm of reaching the benchmark.

reports that in 2012, the graduation rate for Memphis City Schools was just 70.3 percent. While this percentage is much higher than the 2009 figure of 62.1 percent, it is still far from that 90 percent. It is also far below the statewide graduation rate of 87.2 percent in 2012.

To help the school district improve graduation rates, several options are now on the table of the Memphis school board. With these choices help or hinder the slow but steady improvements the district has already seen in recent years? The answer may depend on who you ask.

This video reports on improving graduation rates.

Online Schooling to Improve in Memphis

One option Memphis students now have is an online school, which allows students at all levels to work toward their standards at their own pace. However, the only online school in Tennessee currently, Tennessee Virtual Academy, has released its first round of test scores with rather dismal results. According to a recent report in the