Why the School Marketplace Fails
A reader responded to a post about Michigan with the following comment.
I perked up because I was reminded of something I heard on CNN recently. Fareed Zakaria was interviewing Steven Rattner about hedge funds, equity investors, and outsourcing. Zakaria asked why so many capital investors end up sending jobs overseas, and Rattner answered very concisely. He said, and I paraphrase, “in a global economy, capital always seeks to lower costs. In a competitive marketplace, if you can’t cut costs, you go out of business. The name of the game is who can cut costs the most.”
What does this mean in an education marketplace? The school that can lower its costs the most wins. How do you lower costs? You increase class size and/or hire the least experienced, low-cost teachers.
I perked up because I was reminded of something I heard on CNN recently. Fareed Zakaria was interviewing Steven Rattner about hedge funds, equity investors, and outsourcing. Zakaria asked why so many capital investors end up sending jobs overseas, and Rattner answered very concisely. He said, and I paraphrase, “in a global economy, capital always seeks to lower costs. In a competitive marketplace, if you can’t cut costs, you go out of business. The name of the game is who can cut costs the most.”
What does this mean in an education marketplace? The school that can lower its costs the most wins. How do you lower costs? You increase class size and/or hire the least experienced, low-cost teachers.
Should Superintendents Be Educators?
This is a rhetorical question. After many years studying education, I will tell you my view: Superintendents should be educators.
Superintendents should be experienced educators who understand teaching and learning, curriculum and special education. There is much more, of course, but the starting point is to understand education and students.
We are always looking wistfully to other nations and asking what they do that we don’t do.
Superintendents should be experienced educators who understand teaching and learning, curriculum and special education. There is much more, of course, but the starting point is to understand education and students.
We are always looking wistfully to other nations and asking what they do that we don’t do.