The profit motive works great for many things but not everything. I don't think it does all that well in justice administration. Just consider the horrors of our national prison industrial complex. I'm not a fan of mixing the profit motive with state functions in general. K-12 education is another area I don't think mixes well with the profit motive. This will be our focus here. Foundational education is a right enshrined in many state constitutions. This is true here in North Carolina where I live. Whether you get a good education or not should not be dependent on your family's bank account.
A lot of money for education comes from local taxes. If corporations are getting this money via private schools, the profit motive has to override all other concerns. Corporations’ primary purpose is making money for shareholders full stop. (We will get to religious schools soon.) It invites corruption locally, at the state level, and federally. Measuring sticks can be manipulated, changed or simply ignored. Can we really trust corporate entities to teach about alternative economic systems, abuse of labor and other corporate crimes such as the massive fraud at Enron? Privatizing schools can also take away control from teachers and other education professionals.
If a company develops the lesson plans and how they are actually taught, what is left for the teacher to do? The role of teacher becomes little more than a proctor or guide. If a student finds an error or has a disagreement about something being taught who can they go to? It is no longer the teacher. I guess they have to take it up with some form of customer service? Businesses managing education hurts educators as well as students. Adding religion to the mix throws in an additional set of problems.
Yes, I have a problem with any school that does not want to teach evolution in 2023. There is a line somewhere separating education from indoctrination. I have questions about religious schools. How can I be sure they are not teaching religious intolerance? How can I be sure they are not dehumanizing others with different views such as atheists or followers of other faiths? How can I be sure they are not discouraging freedom of thought? In my experience, religion is not exactly open to questioning. I feel education should be the opposite- question everything! They are not all bad.
Sure, we can still have private religious schools. I'm sure there are many that do well! Catholic and Jewish high schools can provide a great education. If you got tons of money and want a private or religious education for your children, great. Please do your homework on what they will teach first. They should not try to replace a good public education system. One last point.
Kids don't belong to parents. They are individual human beings with agency. They need to be able to have a say in what and how they are learning, not controlled by corporate or religious institutions. Democracy depends on having a well educated populace. The idea of any politician loving the “uneducated” should be terrifying in a Democracy.
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL PUBLIC SCHOOLS!
