Private School Separate Playoffs from Public Schools

No class B(8-Man) Regent Prep would NOT play class 6AII Booker T.  You misunderstood the idea.  All districts and classifications would stay the same with this plan.  Private schools and publics schools would still be in the classifications they are in now.  When playoffs start then the schools with controlled enrollment go to their state championship bracket with the same class of schools and the schools that don't have controlled enrollment go to their state championship bracket with the same class of schools.  Example in 2A Football-  District 7 will still be Metro, Victory, Beggs, Haskell, Henryetta, Kiefer, Morris and Okmulgee.  Those 8 would still play each other in District match ups.  At the end of the season they would still use the district win loss record to seed the State playoff tournament.  There would be a two 2A State Championship brackets(think 6AI-6AII).  One bracket would have 2A schools that can control their enrollment(Metro, Victory, Crossings, Rejoice, Cascia Hall, Christian Heritage, OCS, Community Christian) and the other bracket would be the teams that can not control their enrollment.  There really is no great way to level the playing field.  This seems like a decent plan but might need some adjustments.  When playoffs come around it puts the schools that have advantages over public schools into their own bracket and they still get to play for a gold ball.  Ask any parent if they would want their kid to go to a private school and I bet around 90% would say absolutely if they could afford it.  Why?  Just go to some of these public schools and then go to some of the private schools.   There are massive differences.  It is actually a good thing for the Private schools that they have the differences they have.  Helps bring kids into their school because parents want what is best for their kids.  I'm one of the first one to tell people that I like the Private schools.  I think they have great systems set up for the kids to be extremely successful.  Having been in the public schools and knowing about the advantages of the private schools I can say with confidence that Privates have many advantages that public schools do not.  Wish it was not this way but it is the truth.  I have been in public schools that did not have heat because they could not pay to have the heater fixed.  The kids were using books that had been duct taped back together.  2 paid coaches on football staff for a class 2A football school.  Zero strength and conditioning classes or coaches because the district could not afford one.  Playing on a field of weeds because the district did not have enough money to take care of the field.  And on and on it goes.  Private schools can let a student go if they do not make the grades or if they are habitually missing practices, film, meetings, summer workouts.  Public schools have to keep that kid in their school.  Many privates don't have special education classes.  Think of the ADM of some of these public schools if they cut out all their special education kids numbers.  I am glad that public schools help special education kids just trying to explain the differences.  Regardless of these differences or what ever the OSSAA decides we will continue to play the schedule we have been given and do the best for our kids.  Just the same as ALL schools would do. People who say there are no differences between Public schools and Private schools are uninformed. 

Controlled enrollment playoffs

6A- Booker T by default
5A - 1 game, Bishop Mcguinnes vs. Bishop Kelly
4A - none
3A - 2 games? Lincoln, Heritage Hall, Holland Hall
2A - several games (most realistic)

How do you combine these? Also means OKC public schools that are magnet schools join the privates. Also how many public schools would choose to play in controlled playoffs to try to win a legit championship? Would be interesting to see if the big boys like Beggs stay with the privates.

You bring up some really good points.  I like the plan but I did mention that there would need to be some adjustments to the plan.  I'm wondering what you consider a legit championship?  Is 6A-II a legit championship?  They all used to be in 6A so maybe that is not legit.  Why did they spit that class?  To level the playing field which I think was a great idea.  So are you saying ONLY Private schools playing sports are legit?  My school might opt to stay with the Privates too.  I would be willing to continue to play them while knowing that they do have advantages that we don't have.  But a vast majority of public schools do not want to play privates because they are at a disadvantage every time they play.  So something needs to be done and that is the point of the idea that has been presented.  To just ignore the advantages that Private schools have over public schools is to ignore the kids that have no other option but to play sports at a public school.  As a Christian man I wonder what Jesus would do when he looked at the situation.  

That sounds like a decent idea too.  The conversation needs to be had for sure.  I don't want it to be a bad situation for Private schools either but there are vast differences between Public and Private schools and those differences play out in the classroom and in athletics.  If I lived near Foyil and my kid was going to school at Foyil. If the opportunity to drive 30 minutes to Rejoice Christian for my kid to go to school at Rejoice came along would I take it?  Majority of parents, if they could afford it, would say yes.  Just look at the facilities.  Not to mention Rejoice will have a full time strength and conditioning coach and have strength classes that are built into the school day.  Most public schools can't afford that.  Some can but most can not.  That is just mentioning one thing and there are many as to why most Private schools are bettthan pu I am a supporter of vouchers for the money that the government gives schools for their kids to be handled by the parents.  This way the parent gets to choose how the money for that kids is best spent.  They might choose a public school and the money go to that or they might choose a private school.  I think this would help many parents have the opportunity to send their kids to a private school if they want to.  I also think it would force the public schools to up their game and try to be more competitive with the Private schools in terms of how they structure themselves and their facilities.  Negatives is it could lead to some Public schools shutting down or Public schools being at a less disadvantage then they already are.  I am just looking for ALL kids to be able to have the same opportunities as others.  I understand that it has never been that way but I will continue to push for it even if it might never happen.  I believe ALL kids are important.  They should all get the same resources to help them become successful.  I don't really have an exact answer on how to help everyone be on a level playing field but you can understand me wa wanting EVERYONE to have a chance to succeed and the ability to have the best resources. 

I am pretty sure this already happens. I don't know all the particulars and it doesn't pertain to football due to enrollment size but our School has to play up in Baseball/Basketball/Volleyball because of the success they have had in those sports.  Our girls are excellent in Volleyball/Track but terrible in everything else.   Does the Private School sports advantage only work for boys?

The success rules is already in place. What I’m suggesting is the success rule AND play up a class so they could bump 2 classes. As the rule is written, you can’t move up two classes.

What an uneducated take on an subject. Just wildly throwing unbased claims against a wall hoping something sticks. Where is the physical statistical evidence you mentioned over the last 10 years? I would love to see you cite some scholarly sources from which this data was pulled so we could all see it for ourselves. But, likely, it does not exist. Clearly your child is at a public school and had their season end by a private this last year. My condolences. But like the posters above said- this isn’t a public vs private debate it’s a rich vs poor. You dropped Booker T. In your initial post. Lets go with that. I know for a fact Booker T. Has 4 racks in their weight room, cancelled their last 2 freshman seasons due to lack of participation in football and has no say whatsoever who the Tulsa Public Schools Education Service Center assigns to them. So your focal example in your opening statement is entirely bogus in itself. Booker T. has zero money for their athletic programs as all TPS schools allocate funding through even dispersement. Also, sticking with 6A-2 (which you stated isn’t a real district or champion bc it was split, despite Bixby hammering 6A-1 opponents routinely as of late- including the 6A-1 2020 champion Jenks), based on your argument, Bixby has a disadvantage over Booker T. Yet, based on ADM and actually publicly visible budgets, Bixby houses the highest mark in their classification for student attendance and Booker T. Is next to last. Also, Bixby erected one of the largest jumbotrons in the nation last year while Booker T. Just stopped sharing their field with Rogers last season. Lest we not forget the Nathan Hale roster with 11 players who is also deemed a private by your measure. Clearly a juggernaut. This is all within the same classification with which you posed your initial stance and argument. Lest we not forget Stroud being the one leading the charge. Bob Wood is the AD down there, great guy, good family. He’s extremely gifted at generating revenue for his towns teams. The Route 66 Coliseum, The revamped stadium, the new facilities they erected around 5 years ago, etc. all tops in their classification and tops in the state as far as fiscal income generation and prestige goes. Yet they are 2A. But by your argument they are handicapped compared to a NOAH academy who barely participated yearly in athletics. The issue, however, is not privates. It’s as the previous posted said, haves and have nots. Stroud has struggled to overcome the privates on competition in football, always have. But a large part of that steak was also under the tenure of one Coach in Elrick. I do not agree with your dismissal of the importance of coaching. Perhaps those losses occurred because of matchups or coaching more favorable to the private schools. But even in the years when they are primed for success they lose district to Okemah or someone and then want to blame some outlying circumstance. But the realty is financially advantageous ISDs have more power when it comes to sports than any private school realistically. Multiple small towns employ coaches in fabricated positions of employment to justify the district employment whereas in reality they are there to coach and are being paid for such. Their title as “dean of elementary education” or whatever title they carry is superficial at best.

Also, I apologize for your childs teams’ shortcomings this past season. However, I do not believe Jesus would deem his name necessary to be invoked in such a trivial matter, especially one in which gluttonous desires and greed to succeed for a mans child at the athletic level in high school are of His pressing concerns. I could be mistaken, however I do not remember that part when I was in Seminary.

There is no immediate answer or remedy for this issue, however I do know the issue is more nuanced than a blanket answer of separating Public vs Private. There are far too many variables. A more realistic answer would to classify based on athletic budgets and facility appraisals weighted in conjunction with the ADM of the school. But that would require a level of attention and financial backing the OSSA likely won’t pursue.

This is a very good point right here, cardinalcowboy makes a valid statement here, Basically this is what I have tried to tell everyone for quite some time yet the biased ones on the debate didn't want to listen

Recruiting could possibly be happening amongst publics thanks to that open transfer bill