Dear Editor:
In the January/February issue of The Illinois School Board Journal, Alan C. Jones, associate professor at St. Xavier University, Chicago, wrote “The business of education is education, not business.”
I agreed with his explanations regarding the complexities of measuring student achievement, but became concerned when he focused his criticism on the misaligned efforts to apply business models to educational systems. He espouses: “… more money for our public schools to give every child the kind of school they deserve to nurture their diverse talents.” But, he is opposed to funding for private educational efforts as they, like the business sector of our economy, focus upon “Greed is good.”
He refers to our business sector as a giant Ponzi scheme that is attempting to create the same model for our public schools. Having been a principal in a private school while presently serving on a public school district board of education, I have the perspective that improvement is wrought through competition, comparison and the willingness to accept better concepts.
Jones seems to take the position that more money will solve the problems that public education faces and that the private sector or charter schools are unwelcome competitors. Jones concludes his opinion by addressing business-oriented school superintendents as “… a loss of what Dewey termed democracy in education.”
If Jones is truly concerned with democracy in education, he should consider being more supportive of freedom of choice in education and equal funding for that choice. He should welcome better methods that may be developed in the public or private sector and recognize that innovation and hard work rather than more money are the avenue toward better education. He should also realize that the private sector of our economy and its business-like methods generate the revenue that makes public education possible.
In my opinion, Jones’s opposition to business models and competition in education is indicative of the patterns that perpetuate public educational systems that fail the students and the communities that fund them.
Our universities provide a good example of melding good business practices with good education. The university system in the U.S. is considered to be the best in the world. It is competitive with each institution striving to be the best to attract students. It employs good business practices and standards of measurement to substantiate student accomplishments in order to attract more students in the future.
Post-secondary students have the freedom to choose a public or private institution that will best meet their needs with tuition assistance based upon that need. This choice promotes quality and efficiency that is beneficial to all who are willing to compete.
Our free enterprise system fostered the world’s greatest economy and the world’s greatest post-secondary educational system. The absence of free enterprise and competition in our secondary system has resulted in many schools that languish with poor administration and teachers. Having a lock on tax dollars and facing no competition, our secondary educational system is reported as being the most expensive while having one of the worst achievement rates among all industrialized nations.
Some school districts have taken the initiative to provide the best possible education. For those who have not, students should be given the choice to attend schools that will.
Thomas Theiss
Board Member
Bond County CUSD 2
Greenville, Illinois