public school

In the US and many English-speaking countries, ‘public’ schools are maintained by the state, and ‘private’ schools are independent institutions, supported by fees. In England, the term ‘public school’ denotes a fee-paying independent school.

Since the founding of the nation, universal public education has become an important tradition in the US, and school attendance is compulsory to age 16. Public schools serve as the major method of socialization for immigrants. Since the 1960s, increasing numbers of middle-class whites have withdrawn their children from urban public school systems, choosing private or parochial (church-run) alternatives, thus compromising public education in the process.