Testing, Truth, and Consequences
Robert Pondiscio of CitizenshipFirst writes again to Deborah Meier today.
Not so fast, Deb.
As much as I'm eager to find common ground with you, I'm not quite ready to agree with your summary, "we both oppose making profits from educating our nation's children." That's an impractical stance and an impossible standard. Our classrooms are filled with the products of profit-making industries, from smart boards and laptops to loose leaf paper and No. 2 pencils. I'm hard-pressed to think of a single object I can touch in any classroom that someone, somewhere isn't "making profits from." It doesn't trouble me in the least.
As we've discussed, the very different incentive structures and value systems of business and education make me skeptical that a for-profit system of schools can be successful (I'm struggling to think of one), but I won't be joining you on the barricades to protest their mere existence.
If a for-profit school can produce good outcomes for students and turn a profit at the rate a state or municipality sees fit to pay, I see no reason to criticize or ban it. I've been utterly consistent about my view of this: The public's interest lies in ensuring a well-educated citizenry. Under whose roof or control that happens is a secondary concern.
Having observed that education responds poorly to incentives and changing market conditions let me now give credit to a high-profile attempt to do precisely that. The College Board last week