Whose Education Is It?

A friend of mine who teaches at Malone College once observed that 90% of education is in the hands of the student. That might be a conservative estimate. In any event, comparing private or charter schools with public schools irks me. As long as public schools provide services to everyone, regardless of their interest, and private or charter schools provide services to self-selected students who are generally motivated (whether intrinsically or extrinsically), public schools will appear to underperform as compared with private or charter schools.