Privatizing Education: Good or Bad?

From The Daily Page

Can we afford to let education become corporate, even in spirit?

An educational system largely privatized and run by companies will create fierce competition between schools. Will that be a driving force leading to improved quality of education? Sure. For some schools.

Will it lead to improved quality of education for all kids?

Or will it create a deeper segregation of our society and favor only some people rather than the common good (as the above comic suggests)?

Will there be an even bigger increase in economic disparity?

Do all children deserve an equal chance to excel in life through a good education?

Those are questions I feel deserve careful consideration before we can attempt to privatize schools and establish them as mainstream education, as is the current aim in Wisconsin.

We also need to look at the nations with the best ranking schools in the world. Finland, for example, has students who consistently outscore American children and others. I think it's interesting that Finland's educational system is not based on competition at all. They have public schools, and all students attend for free, even up into the college level. In Finland, you could go to school to become a lawyer or a doctor and spend years in college without worrying about having enough money to pay for tuition or incurring debt. And get this: you even get a government allowance to help pay for rent, food, etc, while you're a college student. Finland's teachers must hold no less than a master's degree in order to teach, and it seems that the teaching profession in Finland is among one of the most highly respected fields. They don't just say it; they actually mean it. The best and brightest people in Finland are drawn to the teaching profession because of the high level of respect associated with that career.

Could it be that they value education more, or perhaps in a different way than we do in America?

Just some things to think about when it comes to what is best for our children--not my children, or your children, but ALL of our children.