They say, just run schools like businesses. Oh, really?
I just read an insightful article in Stateline Weekly this morning. While teachers and parents grow increasingly concerned about falling revenues for public schools, many legislatures and governors, of both political stripes, are seizing the moment to shift toward business-inspired, performance-based models and "outsourcing" the traditional classroom to privately managed, publicly funded charter schools and on-line instruction. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and state chambers are advocating for this shift and getting their talking points from education-reform theorists, or ideologues depending on your perspective, like Richard Hess of the American Enterprise Institute.
The theory goes that schools will be better if they are run like businesses. First off, in areas of public education such as school management, organizational structure, finance, construction, maintenance, etc. (non-classroom functions), good business practices have undeniably benefited the whole enterprise. They improve efficiency to maximize investment in the classroom. But, the business model is now directly entering the classroom.
One- This new breed of run-schools-like-businesses believe that the only way to improve instruction is to reward
The theory goes that schools will be better if they are run like businesses. First off, in areas of public education such as school management, organizational structure, finance, construction, maintenance, etc. (non-classroom functions), good business practices have undeniably benefited the whole enterprise. They improve efficiency to maximize investment in the classroom. But, the business model is now directly entering the classroom.
One- This new breed of run-schools-like-businesses believe that the only way to improve instruction is to reward