Public School vs. Private School = Public Services vs. Corporate Politicians

   The giant-killer Blanchard Lions high school football team, after ending the longest high school football winning streak in Oklahoma's history (48 straight by the Wagoner Bulldogs) - now face an even bigger and badder giant, the Heritage Hall Chargers. Heritage Hall is a familiar foe for Blanchard, as the Daily Oklahoman reports that the Chargers have eliminated the Blanchard Lions in the opening round of the playoffs for the last three years. Heritage Hall has won literally dozens of state titles in all high school sports over only the past five years, and several in class-3A football. The Chargers were advanced to class-4A last year - not because their enrollment increased but because they are a private school and allowed to recruit only the best players... which has resulted in an advantage over public schools and numerous state titles. The Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activity Association (OSSAA), the governing body for high school sports, recognized it could not stop the recruiting of players and other unfair private school advantages - so required private schools to advance one classification upwards from where their enrollment dictates (when winning an excessive number of state titles). Heritage Hall fits the criteria for moving from class 3A to class 4A: It has won an excessive number of state titles, based on its ability to recruit and accept only the best players around the state by offering scholarships (foundation grants) to these players. It has a systemic unfair edge when competing against public schools. It dominated high school athletic competitions in class 3A, and is continuing to dominate the public school competition in class 4A. By moving private schools up 'one classification' the OSSAA believed it would 'level the playing field" somewhat between private schools and public schools. As many public school supporters predicted, though, moving privates up only one class didn't level the playing field even one scintilla. Those dominant private schools such as Bishop McGuinness and Heritage Hall continue to dominate high school sports, because they can still recruit players from across the nation and have retained other unfair advantages too numerous to list.
Update: Heritage Hall, now with 53 wins and only 2 losses over the past four years, defeated the Blanchard Lions 35-7 on Saturday afternoon. The Chargers will probably win the state title next week as it faces Ada, a very good public school football team, but no match for the Heritage Hall Chargers. Many OSSAA officials believe the dominance that private schools have over public schools in high school athletic competitions is because private school students just work harder and have better coaches than their public school counterparts. Many high school athletics supporters know that simplistic answer is far from the truth.