One of the great canards in public education is that no one should profit from the public schools. For example, cries of "corporate takeover of public schools" and "profits come before the needs of children" have been part of the anti-charter school rhetoric in Ohio and elsewhere since the first for-profit charters opened in the early 1990s.
In 2007, for example, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Federation of Teachers called Ohio's charter schools a "franchise system of corporate-run schools." Ohio Governor Ted Strickland sought to outlaw all forms of "for-profit" charter operators in the Buckeye State in his budget proposals in both 2007 and 2009. In 2006, then gubernatorial candidate Strickland got great applause from the teacher unions and allies when he called charters "a rip-off." He even threw out the applause line that "There are people operating these schools getting rich and they're doing so on the backs of our children."
Yet, despite such political rhetoric every penny spent on education profits someone - teachers, administrators, text book publishers, computer companies, food service providers, bus drivers, school consultants, et al. Some, however, profit far more than others.
According to????a recent article in Education Week one of the organizations currently profiting nicely from public education is e-Luminate, a marketing and communications-consulting firm that was set up by Ken Kay. Ken Kay is the prophet of 21st Century Skills and according to Education Week his private consulting firm e-Luminate made $500,000 in 2007 promoting 21st century skills to states and school districts. Ohio is one of 14 states that is a member of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills - the non-profit that contracts out with Kay's e-Luminate for its day-to-day operations.
Here's the irony, one of the strongest defenders of 21st century skills and the work of e-Luminate is the National Education Association. When it comes to their friends and ideological soul mates they apparently don't have a problem with profit in education.
There is no way to take profit out of education and we shouldn't even try. Let's torpedo once and for all the idea that profit in education is bad. At the end of the day, what matters is whether or not the adults making the money are adding value to the education of children. In that light here's a question worth asking, is there any evidence that student achievement has been improved in the states that have bought into the 21st century skills agenda? If not, we may have another canard worth torpedoing. ????????
-Terry Ryan
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
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