This blog discussed the blogger's opinion about the privatization of education and how our education system can be related to the economy. The blogger basically says that the government runs the education system in much the same way as a CEO runs a business. In his opinion, everyone from the top on down in education is acting in their own self-interest and the ones that are getting "screwed" in the process are the students and the taxpayers. It is the blogger's belief that in our current system, everyone from teachers on up are using the system to their advantage and not looking to the student's needs. Teachers, in his opinion, have used the unions to take what would be excess profits (which I'm very confused as to what he means by this) into compensation and job security. Third party contractors, he says, benefit through the political process and that is why we see over priced textbooks and "Taj Mahal like buildings." The management, according to him, are highly compensated and even though in the blogger's opinion should be held most responsible for the results in the school, are actually not held accountable at all. Those that are in failing schools simply move on to burden the next school. And finally, the politicians seek a self-interest in political favors from school officials and employees. The blogger seems to be arguing for the privatization of education, believing that with free competition, the businessmen running education would be forced to produce better results in an attempt to increase profits. The blogger believes that just because there are profits and risks of losses wouldn't mean that the education system would be worse than it is now.
This article relates to class because of our discussion about the privatization of education into charter schools. I both agree and disagree with the author. While I agree that the government is running education much like a corporation, and that the people involved are looking after their own self-interest, I don't believe that handing the education system over to Wall Street is the best idea. While it may be true that in order to be competitive and increase profits, these businessmen would be forced to produce results, they may also try to push their own agenda in the schools. I personally would not want my kid to think the way that a CEO wants them to. I want my kid to be able to think and act for themself. I also disagree with the author in that I believe that we can reform the current education system and make it better. In a previous posting, the author pushes the belief that the current system cannot be reformed to create better results. The author seems to be a Republican because of his belief in privatization of education. It is hard to tell what educational style he favors in the classroom, but I get the feeling he comes from a student-centered approach because of his lack of faith in the teachers, who, under essentialism, are the possessors of all knowledge.
No comments:
Post a Comment