Susan J. Demas: Education is not a for-profit business, so don't treat it like one
Michigan has slashed education spending 9 percent since 2008, sparking several rallies against the cuts. (AP File Photo)
Government should be run like a business. That mantra spills from the mouths of Republicans and Democrats a lot these days.
And it's often used about education, as a way to justify spending cuts. If bloated school districts would just manage their money better, they wouldn't even feel the effects of budget cuts, so the thinking goes.
In Michigan, we've put our money where our mouth is with that theory.
We've cut K-12 spending more than 33 other states since 2008 -- 9 percent, according to a new study by the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
That's been a bipartisan effort. Cuts started in the Gov. Jennifer Granholm era, and peaked with Gov. Rick Snyder's fiscal 2012 budget, in which he slashed schools by about $400 per student. The 2.5 percent increase for next year's budget is only around the rate of inflation.
Now the idea that running schools like businesses is a fallacy to begin with. Business operate to make a profit. Public schools operate to educate children.
Both can fail at their missions -- and do. But comparing the two is like saying that a goat should be more like an orange. There's a level of absurdity there.
However, the run-government-like-a-business trope isn't going away anytime soon. Many Republicans genuinely believe that private enterprise is superior to government in every way. And plenty of Democrats deploy the theme to show they're