Ignorance Is Dangerous

     An article from the Mackinac Center began as follows:
"Two Democrats, Sens. Rebekah Warren, D-Ann Arbor, and
Hoon-Yung Hopgood, D-Taylor, announced this week that they
would introduce a constitutional amendment to ban schools
operated by for-profit entities in Michigan.

     "'Our education institutions should not be guided by a
mission statement focused on making a profit,' Sen. Warren said. 
'Michigan's children deserve to receive an education focused on
their success and empowerment -- a mission with no room for
profits and corporate management.'"

     The ignorance condensed into that short quote raised my
blood pressure so high I had to relax a while before writing
about it.  My first response was to try to imagine adjectives
stronger than ignorant, foolish and stupid to describe the content
of the quote.

     What is so evil about a school or anyone else earning a
profit?  I prefer that the businesses I buy from or work for earn
profits.  If they don't earn profits they are doing a poor job. 
They aren't creating any value.  They are a waste.  Amtrak and
the US Postal Service don't earn profits.  Are these the models
we should follow for schools?  Oh, wait, we already are
following those models.

     How can competing, free market schools earn a profit? 
What does that profit mean?  If a school has the only game in
town it may gain (not earn) a huge profit from its monopoly. 
The customers' only choice is that school or no school.

     If customers have a choice, Which school will they
choose?  Don't be surprised if they choose the one that serves
them the best.  If the customer isn't personally paying the
school, don't expect the customer to give much weight to how
efficient the school is.  This is one of  the weaknesses of charter
schools.  If the customer gets what he wants and someone else
pays, Why should the customer worry about the costs?

     With a choice of schools the customer will seek out the
one that serves him best.  Each customer will have his own
views about what good service is.  Some may focus on location. 
Others may be concerned about curriculum, discipline, sports,
music, etc.

     All of the above are legitimate concerns.  The school that
best fits each customer's demands will get his business, and the
money that goes with it.  The for-profit school is likely to do its
best to keep costs down, whether the customer cares or not.   By
increasing efficiency and cutting costs the school, like any
business, can earn more profits.

     The need to serve its customers and cut costs work
together to hold businesses accountable.  The free market school
that earns the most profit will be the one that serves best.

     On the other hand, monopoly government schools that
face little or no competition don't have to serve or please the
customers.  We have legions of examples across the nation, such
as Detroit, where government schools have failed miserably for
years.  They still are failing and still destroying the educational
opportunities of the children trapped in them.

     If those schools faced competition, they would be long
gone, driven into bankruptcy by more competent competition. 
The successful schools would ever face more competition from
other schools attempting to out serve them and drive them from
the market.

     For-profit schools aren't a curse that dooms children to
lives of illiteracy and ignorance.  They are the only kind of
school that will always have to find better ways to serve the
students.

     The senators sponsoring the ban on for-profit schools
might be self serving liars catering to a special interest, such as
the Michigan Education Association.  Or, they may be so
ignorant that they believe what they are saying.  Either way they
are dangerous.  Their foolish idea should be exposed and
dumped, not implemented.  It can only make poor schools worse
by prohibiting accountability through competition.  Of course,
failing schools and those paid by them aren't eager for
competition.

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Copyright 2012
Albert D. McCallum
18440 29-1/2 Mile Road
Springport, Michigan 49284