The Public vs. Private School Debate... With a New Twist

For as long as I can remember, there has been a debate about "Public vs. Private" in sports. The first time I remember this debate really getting heated was back in the late 90's. You had a run of dominant private schools like Cardinal Ritter and Pembroke Hills. Those teams ended the state title hopes of several schools across the state. A lot of coaches at the time said it wasn't fair.

In the aftermath, it turns out, at least in the case of Pembroke Hills, they were right. Pembroke Hills was stripped of their state titles in a story that was too crazy to make up. Pembroke Hills had to forfeit those championships, which in a way, kind of ushered in the 1.35 multiplier that is in place now.

The multiplier was put on the ballot (more on this in a moment). This is what Becky Oakes, then the Executive Director of MSHSAA, had to say at the time.

"The election is an important part of how our association operates," said MSHSAA Executive Director Becky Oakes. "The schools govern themselves, and the annual election process allows them to vote on what they believe is best for all schools and students in our state."

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Right here is where I could launch into a debate about how "democratic" MSHSAA is, since their Board can just put a rule on the ballot anytime they want to, or make a Board policy without even having it on the ballot at all. Compare that to how hard it is for a school to get a rule put on the ballot... but that is a topic for another time.

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So back to the story... In 2002 the multiplier did pass. Several private schools were "bumped up" a classification. Missouri also went from 4 classes to 5 classes in basketball. That calmed everybody down, but only for a little while.

Back about 5-6 years ago, it was Park Hills Central making a lot of noise about the "Public vs. Private" debate. Coincidentally, and this is not meant to be a criticism of Park Hills Central, but they were a program getting knocked out of the playoffs in several sports by private schools. So they were making a fuss (rightfully so, some would say).

This is the what they had to say:

“We can’t go outside our geographic boundary and bring in students for any reason," Bradley said. "Whether it be athletic reasons, academic reasons, anything like that. Private schools, they do not have geographic boundaries. Private schools can represent several geographic areas from where they draw students.”

After talking with Shannon Crain, the superintendent at Norwood who wrote the latest petition that is circulating around the state, he kind of said the same thing. Here is the entire conversation:

Per my comments in the podcast, I think this topic is going to pick up a lot of steam around the state. I say that, because in addition to the "sports side" of this debate, there is a very heated political debate going on surrounding public schools, charter schools, and private school vouchers. Lines are being drawn. Everybody is picking a side.

If you want my opinion... I wish we would go to fewer classes. I wouldn't mind if we all played in one classification. I think it would be awesome if there were only two classes, large and small. That's just my opinion. I think it would make the state tournament great.

At most, I wish we were in the old "4 class" system that was in place from the early 70's to 2002. I just think only 5 schools win a state title now, and only 20 make it to a Final Four anyway. How cool would it be for a team like Risco to be in a "win or go home" game against somebody like Dexter and win? How awesome would it be for a school like Advance to knock Charleston or Sikeston out of the state tournament?

I just think those experiences would be just as meaningful as a trip to the Final Four, but again, that's just my opinion. Like I said in the podcast, I hope this petition makes it to the official MSHSAA ballot. I do think it deserves more discussion. So go to our poll right here and vote. What do you hope happens with this petition?