The question has become a vehicle for proselytizing and posturing among politicians, administrators and journalists in recent years. For parents of school-aged children, however, the quandary remains a practical one. Families can be left feeling stuck between a rock and a hard place - stuck, in other words, between images of overcrowded, mismanaged, violent, bureaucratic public schools and worries over the costs and ethical concerns often associated with opting for a private education. Parents are left shrugging their shoulders, fearing both options and unaware that- indeed - others exist.

Non-traditional forms of education - including homeschooling, charter schools, school-to-work programs and public schools with specific focuses, such as technology or the arts - often can meet a family's needs in ways that mainstream schooling, whether public or private, cannot. However, these alternatives raise questions of their own: How to learn about the available options? How to judge whether a particular school or educational method will suit a particular child? How to estimate the time and money that each option will require?

Add to these the larger questions that humans have been asking for as long as they've been rearing offspring - How best to teach children to become responsible citizens? How to guide them toward discovering and maximizing their individual talents and abilities? How to instill confidence? How to convey knowledge effectively, and, more importantly, how to create in children a thirst for new knowledge? - and the list of unknowns grows dauntingly long.

Fortunately, in recent years, the World Wide Web has made researching alternative educational options easier. A plethora of Web sites and homepages provide everything from laws about homeschooling to state-by-state lists of charter schools. Simply entering "alternative education" at any search engine prompt will pull up enough Web sites for days of reading - and the interactive nature of the web allows parents to discuss various options with families who, actually living them out, are intimately acquainted with their pros and cons.

In searching, however, parents must remain aware that many different kinds of people offer many different interpretations of "alternative education." For some, the term refers to nothing more than a traditional public school experience with non-traditional hours, while for others it can mean a religiously-affiliated program of homeschooling. To avoid hours of skimming through material unrelated to your needs, it is important think about what sorts of options appeal to you before beginning your search. Would you entertain the notion of a "regular" school where your budding ballerina would be allowed to receive course credit for outside dance instruction - or are you set on the idea of a professional school for the arts? Having an idea at the outset of what you know you don't want can make your search far more efficient.

There are state and national organizations for just about every type of alternative education, and also private and non-profit groups. In addition, don't rule out visiting Web sites that belong to specific schools or programs. Even if those programs are in a different state or half-way around the world, they can provide a good sense of how various educational theories play out in real life, sparking ideas and helping you narrow down your search. Many such Web sites offer excellent links to more general sites. Among the informative and well-linked sites to begin exploring: nychea, the New York City Homeschool Education Association homepage, which comprehensively lists resources and provides an excellent example of a secular homeschool organization. Another user-friendly and well-informed site for homeschooling is life.

But perhaps the best way to gain information about the options is by talking to children and parents engaged in alternative education. Finding out personal reasons for rejecting traditional methods of schooling can help you articulate your own reasons. In looking at home pages posted by homeschooled children, for example, or success stories posted on a school's homepage, you may come across a student who reminds you of your own, suggesting that your child, too, could thrive in that atmosphere. A few Web sites that are particularly good for chat, testimonials, and student home pages include midnight beach, midnight beach/hs/web_pages, eeng, sep school, and parents place.

Of course, one great advantage to public schooling - and one of the ideals behind its beginnings as a societal institution - is that it is free, and theoretically available to everyone. Alternative education options can prove expensive. For homeschoolers, one parent must decide not to work - or to work limited hours, often at odd times. Schools with specific focuses, like art, science, gymnastics, may require students to pay fees that can quickly add up. If money is an issue, consider exploring charter schools, which are publicly funded but which have a far greater degree of flexibility than public schools; the programs they carry out are not dictated by government standards and regulations but by self-created dictums that bind them to meet certain expectations and rules. Currently, at least 30 states have passed legislation allowing for charter schools.

If your state excludes the possibility of charter schools, and if homeschooling and specialized schools are not feasible options, consider the ways you might otherwise enhance your child's public or rivate education. Extra-curricular activities are ways to open your children up to creative learning. Along with more traditional extra-curriculars like dancing, soccer, swimming, music lessons, and after-school activities, consider activities that will ensure real engagement with the world - nature hikes, newspaper clubs, foreign-language clubs, science groups, and computer clubs optimize on the fun to be found in learning. Doing a web search using any of these generic club titles will yield many possibilities. And, of course, don't forget the web itself as an engaging learning tool, a powerful one, too, that lets children educate themselves in a spontaneous, organic way.

Petitioning school boards and principals is a way to get your ideas about education heard, especially if you're concerned that your child's classroom experience might be compromised because of rote, institutional requirements. Getting involved with your Parent Teacher Association or similar a group can allow you to influence the degree of creativity and freedom your child might experience in the classroom. Visit nea, the Web site of the National Education Association for further ideas on how to activate change in your child's public education and related links.

Volunteering to do a version of homeschooling on the weekends with a small group of kids - taking them to museums, conducting short-term, informal "seminars" on topics like pond life or health studies - could not only enliven their learning experience, but also prove stimulating and enriching for parents. Many museums, theaters, and community centers post Internet lesson plans that are tied into their particular exhibits, plays or presentations. Parents can easily access these lesson plans and do a version of them at home. For starters, try csun, csun math, edsitement, lesson plans page, unite, and mcrel.

Mark Twain perhaps put it a little strongly when he admonished, "school gets in the way of a good education," but his underlying point, that so much of learning occurs outside of structured, institutionalized programs, is certainly a lesson worth learning.