| "Public" | Church | Private |
| Run by: | governments | committees | individuals |
| Management: | bureaucratic | committee | proprietary |
| Teachers: | Must pass certain education courses and be certified by state bureaucracy | Must meet the often picky requirements set by school and church | Must meet the very picky requirements set by school owners |
| Administrators: | Constitutes a large proportion of total staff | No more than are necessary to meet the needs of the school | No more than are necessary to meet the needs of the school |
| Accountability: | low (inertia, morass of regulations, principals have little power and parents have even less) | Rather high (religious mandate sometimes encumbers decisions on pedagogy and discipline) | Very high (schools that do not deliver or are not responsive to parents do not survive) |
| Cost per pupil expenditures: | Over $5,000 annually | Under $3000 annually depending on degree of church support | Under $3000 annually in Owensboro--twice this nationally |
| Accreditation: | automatic--all "public" schools, regardless of quality, are accredited by the state and usually regional bodies. | Depends on school--accrediting agencies are not very demanding; larger church schools usually have some form of it. | The highest accreditation possible: the continuing esteem of a very particular parent body |
| Academic achievement scores: | Comparable to the state of Kentucky, a little above average | Varies with school; Catholic and Heritage are well above average | Well above average; individual percentiles tend to rise |
| Represented in our area by: | •Owensboro Public Schools •Daviess County Schools | •Owensboro Catholic Consolidated Schools •Heritage Christian •other | •Triplett School •M.M.A. |
