Private Schools in the USA: Historical and Current Controversies

The private school system in the United States developed at the instigation of the Catholic minority, parallel to the strictly nondenominational public school system. Since the middle of the 20th century, there has been an increase in the number of private schools founded by other, especially fundamental Christian, religious communities. Simultaneously, the number of students attending Catholic private schools is continuously decreasing, so that the total percentage of private school students has remained stable at about 10%. Access to private schools is socially selective due to the considerable school fees and thus, for wide sections of the population, they hardly constitute a realistic alternative to the public school system. Recent developments, however, suggest that, during the past two decades, the traditionally sharp division between public and private school sector has started to loosen up. Adapted from the source document.