A recent New York Times article about the practice of “counseling out” students from private schools has renewed a debate over how private and public schools differ, but I caution against drawing too sharp a contrast. In my previous work in public schools, I both denied students admission and removed students from programs that weren’t right for them. That’s an appropriate function at any school, public or private.

Our friend Walt Gardner echoed the Times theme in his Education Week blog, Reality Check:

Private schools operate under a completely different set of rules. Not only do they admit only those students they deem a good fit, but they also retain the right to remove students for any number of reasons. To most people, the latter strategy is limited to egregious behavior, such as cheating or bullying. But the truth is that private schools more often engage in counseling out students who for one reason or another are not performing as well as the school determines they should.

While it is certainly true that school districts are required to educate all students, even if that means educating them in jail, the more relevant daily reality is that individual public schools are not. Even traditional neighborhood schools regularly force students to leave. (more…)