The education monopoly
I think most people do not believe that monopolies are not a good thing for consumers. Think about the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (now AT&T)- I think most of us are at least somewhat familiar with the telephone giant’s former monopoly on phone services. According to Wikipedia, as early as 1907 the president of the company was pursuing a goal of “One Policy, One System, Universal Service.”
Well, long-story short, eventually consumers got sick and tired of the monopoly, anti-trust lawsuits were filed, and the government stepped in to break-up the monopoly. Today, most consumers enjoy far more choices when it comes to phone service options.
Lack of competition creates apathy. Perhaps even laziness. And they usually artificially drive up costs.
So why would a government-run education monopoly be a good thing? How can one be opposed to a business monopoly but support a government-controlled monopoly?
Okay, so I know some critics will immediately say “but this is EDUCATION, not a business!” – emphasizing that education is more important than any business. Well yes, education is more important- so why on earth would we allow it to be controlled by a destructive monopoly?? Then those critics may start on some silly line of non-reasoning saying things about how education is too important to be entrusted to anyone other than the government and how can we trust what is being taught in schools not controlled by government (or some other really incoherent and ridiculous argument- I’m sure you’ve heard them before). Well then one might ask them where President Obama received his education? Just saying…
Anyways, in today’s NY Times, Thomas Friedman has an insightful opinion piece underscoring the importance of high-quality education. In The New Untouchables, he writes:
That is the key to understanding our full education challenge today. Those who are waiting for this recession to end so someone can again hand them work could have a long wait. Those with the imagination to make themselves untouchables — to invent smarter ways to do old jobs, energy-saving ways to provide new services, new ways to attract old customers or new ways to combine existing technologies — will thrive. Therefore, we not only need a higher percentage of our kids graduating from high school and college — more education — but we need more of them with the right education.
We do need to equip our children with the right education. But I’d argue that the right education will not be found in a one-size fits all model. The right education will be different for every child, and our education reforms must start with that in mind.
The other week I mentioned the Kindergarten Fair being held here for families to learn more about local public and private schools. It was a great event- but it truly highlights the difference between the private schools and the public school monopoly. Since approximately 92% of students in Virginia attend the public schools already- they don’t really have to “compete” for students. Plus they know that their funding is guaranteed. And it showed. The representatives from the local public school system appeared apathetic and rather uninterested in even being there, especially when compared to the energy and excitement expressed by the various representatives of the various private schools. The private school reps knew that they had to “sell” their schools and their unique programs- they actually have to compete for students.
So if an AT&T monopoly was bad for consumers- isn’t it time we declare a government-controlled education monopoly to also be bad for consumers? Our children deserve better.
You’re in the purple box
Nothing like a bureaucrat-controlled computer program deciding where your child should go to school, right?
So the other night I was talking to a representative of the local public school district. (And yes, I refrained from my normal debates about school choice and education reforms.) Anyways, so I wanted to confirm to what school my children would be assigned based on my address. Conveniently, she has with her a lovely color-coded map of the city- showing the often-confusing and seemingly-random boundaries drawn up for each school.
My house was located in a nice little purple “box.” (I use “box” loosely as the shape looked more like a rough approximation of a square with a funny shaped diamond attached arbitrarily to the side of it.)
Now I know they have a “reason” for all these crazy shapes they draw up on their maps- they want to create nice diverse student populations so they have to get rather creative with their line drawing.
So, even though you may have not one, but two schools located just blocks away, no, you may be assigned to another school even further away. And even if you wanted your child to attend one of those closer schools (because, well, they are closer and their students perform better), no, because the computer says so, you go to school X.
Make sense to you?
See, in their system, it isn’t about what you, as a parent want. It isn’t about what is best for your child even (though that part still gets me since I really thought education was supposed to be about students). It is about what works for a bunch of adults who have never even met the children they are randomly assigning to schools.
So what’s my point? Well, simply that I don’t think we’ll ever truly improve education in this country until we break out of the box. Until we put educational decisions back in the hands of parents (who, one would assume after knowing their own child for 5 years would know a bit more about them than a computer operated by a central-office bureaucrat). Until we reject a status-quo system that isn’t working for our children.
Boxing our kids in is not the solution.
Tolerance and Acceptance?
I’m not sure what exactly it was that made me think about this earlier this morning, but it reminded me about this great post by Matthew Ladner on Jay Greene’s blog last week, “Private Schools and the Public Interest.”
Mr. Ladner writes about a couple of recent reports from the Goldwater Institute: “Private School Students More Tolerant and Politically Accepting.” He notes:
I could fish up absurd quotes from people about how only public schools can teach proper civic values, and how scary private schools under a choice system are certain to indoctrinate children into all sorts of dangerous anti-democratic ideologies. You being a discriminating consumer of education blogs, however, makes the task unnecessary.
(It was probably one of those absurd quotes that reminded me of this blog post… but like Mr. Ladner, I won’t waste my time trying to dig one up for you.)
Anyways, the findings are very interesting- and I know they’ll come as a great shock to some staunch defenders of the public school system.
From the Goldwater Institute’s press release on the survey:
“My school teaches me to value, respect and tolerate differences in others.”
76 percent of students in private school agree with that statement, compared with 51 percent of students in public school.“My school treats all students with respect regardless of race.”
64 percent of students in private high school agree with that statement, compared with 40 percent of public school students.
Anyways, we encourage you to check out the blog and the report. Good reads.
And if you’re looking for some more Friday reading, good article from Louisiana about a relatively civil discussion about educational options.
