Saturday, July 21, 2012

When it comes to education, "We need to focus on the supply side...if the profit motive is allowed to work." Voodoo Educational Policy?

While for-profit educators are marketing the benefits of private schools, like cereal manufactures health claims of the health benefits of eating sugar, these PT Barnum's are now moving on from winning over gullible parents, to corporate lobbying groups. Making the case that profiting from a child's education is something that should be admired as an integral part of the American entrepreneurial spirit, they're stepping up the propaganda. Check out the picture of the blatantly obvious publication below, filled with absolute hogwash. Click the picture for a larger view:


As you can see, the idea's presented here are still a little rough around the edges, because right now they're in the early stages of framing the issue.


Taking a cheap shot at the teachers union belies their argument, and the use of the term "supply side" may be an honest description, but it's also interchangeable with its other name, "voodoo economics." 


In the Edweek article pushing the great privatization success story in Sweden, never once mentions those national laws that even private schools must adhere too, along with testing and accountability. Why? Because the model being sold in the U.S. doesn't include those annoying rules of accountability, that's why. They want the profit and the experimentation, but none of the blame when it comes to failing children in their formative years. The brains ability to absorb information in these early years happens only once, and can't be taken back. A mishmash of "innovation" taking place in all fifty states would be pure chaos. 


There's still one issue these privateers never seem to bring up; how Republican legislatures and congress are trying to defund education. That would dry up the taxpayer slush fund.  Private companies will find it almost impossible to increase or maintain profits if Republicans continue to cut education.

1 comment:

  1. Profit-motivated education, indeed. By definition, that means less revenue devoted to actual teaching. Lots more to marketing and faking the job with PR and political contributions. And a cirriculum that doesn't serve the students or their communities, but only the for-profit capitalist system. We won't have boards of education, we'll have serf boards.

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