SANTA FE, N.M. – A teaching veteran has written a handbook for parents facing the daunting task of choosing a school that best suits their children’s needs.

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The popularity of school choice is growing exponentially. An ever greater number of states are making options available to parents, options that include charter schools, private schools and magnet schools, schools for special needs students, faith-based schools and experimental schools. There’s even the option of home schooling. And a growing number of states are making financial options available to parents, especially low-income families wanting to get their children out of failing schools: tax-credit scholarships, vouchers and education savings accounts.

But how do you go about choosing the right, best school whether your child is just starting or is farther along in some higher grade?

Private education consultant Gary Gruber, a 50-year teaching veteran, has written “Your Child, Your Choice: Finding the Right School for Your Child.” He refers to it as a handbook for parents that provides information and guidelines for choosing the right school. (His earlier book “Seven Decades: A Learning Memoir,” chronicles some of his own educational experiences both inside and outside the classroom.)

He tells EAGnews the place for parents to start is with their child. One of the first things to determine—is there a difference between what you want for your child and what your child really needs? He advises parents to be sure not to impose expectations on their kids that are unrealistic or unreasonable.

Gruber says, “There is nothing more important than the investment [parents] make in their children’s education, for the child’s future as well as the future of the world.”

“Parents searching for a school they might want to send their child to need to do their homework,” he says. They’ll want to find out as much as they can about the school by going online and looking at the school’s website. They should talk to parents who send their children to the school and get any printed materials that are available. Then they should interview people who work at that school.

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“Ask some fairly probing and penetrating questions and find out if these [teachers] are satisfied. If ‘yes,’ why? And if ‘not,’ why not?” he tells EAG.

Also, Gruber says parents need to learn about the school’s environment and find out if students are happy attending there and if the teachers are happy working there.

Gruber also recommends finding a way to assess the teaching methods being used and ask if they are  current. Or are they relying on outdated textbooks and other resources? Is there a high level of creativity or is the teaching just rote and repetition?

It’s important for parents to take their time when assessing a school and not rush to judgment, he notes. It could be that inquisitive parents will find the school their children currently attend stands out when compared to some others.

“Neighborhood schools have been the backbone of education since it became compulsory back in the 1800s,” he says. “And it was important and convenient to be near a school to attend by walking there.” Convenience may be a factor in choosing the right school for your student these days, but it does not need to be the most important variable, Gruber says.

Looking at a child’s education long-range, Gruber wants to dispel the myth that every child should go to college. “Today’s bachelor’s degree at the expense of four years of one’s life at a considerable cost guarantees very little,” he states. “There are many viable, post-secondary training opportunities that do not require and four-year degree or even a two year commitment. The alternatives include technology, engineering, electronics and various apprenticeships.”

Gruber attended public schools in Ohio and graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio; Princeton Seminary in New Jersey; and holds both a master’s degree and a doctorate degree from Penn State University. He, at one time, was the principal at the American School in London. He has taught both at private and public schools, and at the university level.

He says after so many years he realized that “education wasn’t going to solve its problems because it is the problem because [educators] are too invested in the status quo, whether that was for job security or convenience or because it would require too much time, energy and resources to make changes.” He now resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico and has been working as an education consultant since 1998. He has devoted the rest of his life to reshaping and reforming public education.

Gruber says if parents fill out a questionnaire at the back of his book, that will go a long way in helping them find the school that’s best for their children. Parents can also contact him directly with questions they may have by emailing him at [email protected]. He also has a website—garygruber.com.