{"id":2963,"date":"2015-12-27T19:59:36","date_gmt":"2015-12-28T01:59:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/?p=2963"},"modified":"2015-12-27T19:59:36","modified_gmt":"2015-12-28T01:59:36","slug":"the-end-of-public-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/2015\/12\/27\/the-end-of-public-education\/","title":{"rendered":"The End of Public Education?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Don Peppers in a LinkedIn<\/strong><\/em> article\u00a0pursues an old libertarian dream<\/a>:<\/p>\n

State-sponsored public education in almost every country in the world is unsatisfactory and inept, a scandal we\u2019ve tolerated far too long. …<\/p>\n

In Matt Ridley\u2019s ambitious book The Evolution of Everything, he dedicates a full chapter to a sweeping story of how people educate themselves, when left to their own devices. If you look at how schools develop \u201cin the wild\u201d today, outside of government programs, you’ll be amazed at the kind of systems that evolve on their own \u2013 simply because parents want to educate their children, and they\u2019re willing to spend money to do so, especially when they see that a state-sponsored system is dysfunctional.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’ll freely grant I’ve not read Mr. Ridley’s book, Mr. Pepper’s inspiration. \u00a0Perhaps I should. \u00a0But simply based on Mr. Pepper’s\u00a0column and the material concerning American societal sectors developed elsewhere in this blog, beginning here<\/a> with relevant additions here<\/a>, here<\/a>, and here<\/a>, as well as some random observations and thoughts, I think we can induce some doubts as to the apocalypse of public education.<\/p>\n

Categorization<\/h3>\n

Readers must<\/em>\u00a0be familiar with the material previously noted concerning societal categorization<\/em>, in particular this one<\/a>, in order to understand my point of view in this section. \u00a0To return to Mr. Pepper, he then steps in a hole:<\/p>\n

And why not? After all, no one thinks a government monopoly is necessary to ensure an adequate supply of fitness centers, or hotels, or grocery stores, right? But just like hotels and groceries, non-government schools maintain their quality because they compete with each other; state schools do not.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He freely skips over the character of the goods to be delivered, to use the argot of the private sector, and this is quite important. \u00a0In the private sector, the chief deliverables are goods (tangible items, if software can be regarded as tangible) and services. \u00a0Is an education either one of these? \u00a0As noted in the link, it is not. \u00a0So when we’re asked to compare an education to a fitness center (possibly one of the best comparisons), it doesn’t hold up: oranges and apples.<\/p>\n

The entire point is conflicting goals<\/em>. \u00a0The purpose\u00a0of the business sector is production of goods and services in order to trade for other goods and services; the goal of the education sector is to inculcate an education in the student, where education is about both facts and thought processes (effective thinking, if you will). \u00a0Consideration of the requirements of education reveal it to be a different beast from the purposes of the private sector.<\/p>\n

As I’ve discussed in the above links, the operationality<\/em> of a sector is naturally optimized to achieve the goals of the sector in which it is embedded; moving it into another sector raises the dangers of unexpected consequences and subpar performance. \u00a0Some say\u00a0that\u00a0if we bring private sector methods into the educational sector then schools will compete and improve, with hardly a nod at the real purpose of most of the private sector: to generate profits<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Repeat that in your mind: to generate profits<\/em>. \u00a0While the best businesses concentrate on quality and even love what they do, a disconcerting number of businessmen have learned that the private sector is all about making money. \u00a0So get that into your frontal cortex: this is about generating\u00a0profits<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The general, implicit understanding is that a profitable school will take on more students to generate more profit. \u00a0This is an incomplete, and in some cases incorrect, appraisal of the situation. \u00a0After all, to select a perfectly applicable example, a manufacturer generates a profit by delivering product at a lower<\/em> cost than his competitors, particularly in an industry where differentiation on quality is not a salient factor. \u00a0How does this translate when moving a businessman into the educational sector?<\/p>\n

What is a large expense in the educational sector?<\/p>\n

Salary<\/em>.<\/p>\n

So, you have some options. \u00a0You can cut salaries of the teachers\u00a0which will attract, on average, a lesser quality\u00a0teacher (and perhaps drive the better teachers out of the profession entirely), or you can fire the high earning teachers at the outset. \u00a0These are typically the highly experienced teachers. \u00a0You know, those who know how to teach<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Think this wouldn’t happen? \u00a0Already has. \u00a0The Curmudjucation<\/strong><\/em> blog has a post<\/a> on this behavior, derived from a scholarly report.<\/p>\n

This is but a single example. \u00a0Here’s another: think about the fact that the educational sector usually owns its real estate, which can be quite valuable. \u00a0Some private school efforts are little more than attempts to acquire the real estate, with a vague wave at schooling.<\/p>\n

Remember, in the world of the private sector this isn’t even immoral behavior. \u00a0Bad businesses<\/del> schools fail. \u00a0But assets are left behind for salvage. \u00a0That’s just how it goes. \u00a0Right?<\/p>\n

So – parents – how do you feel about throwing your kid into a school where this may happen to them? Where the teachers are second rate? \u00a0Where the best teachers may simply\u00a0be forced from\u00a0the profession?<\/p>\n

For a biased, but inside,\u00a0view of charter schools see this Daily Kos<\/strong><\/em> diary<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Standards & Cherry Picking<\/h3>\n

Another aspect of concern is standards. \u00a0I know, I know, private schools can be subject to academic standards – but remember that generating profit is the name of the game, not meeting standards. \u00a0An allied concern are the fields studied – often a matter of contention in schools even today, occasionally making trips to SCOTUS over such concerns as Creationism. \u00a0But Pepper envisions a more radical future:<\/p>\n

[Sugata] Mitra’s research suggests that the schooling system itself may soon become obsolete, replaced by what he calls the self-organized learning environment, or \u201cSOLE.\u201d His plan is to have three to five children share a computer with internet access, then propel their learning simply by giving them questions to answer on their own, like figuring out puzzles. Can trees think? Why do we dream? How does an iPad know where it is? Why do humans breathe, and what happens to the air we breathe?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This has a couple of problems. \u00a0First, let’s turn this example inside out and view it through the lens of a rational question: Would you let a 10\u00a0year old choose his course of study?<\/p>\n

I shan’t even ask you to think about it, because the answer is NO. \u00a0I know when I was 10 I wouldn’t have gone to half my classes, given the option. \u00a0Most boys wouldn’t. \u00a0Indeed, the suggestion that they should negates the very intent of education: to become smarter about the world.<\/p>\n

Secondly, the use of CAE (Computer Assisted Education) has its limits that are starting to become visible. \u00a0My impression is that this is still an active field of research, but I’ve noted at least one study (here<\/a>) indicating there are limits to how much the Internet can enhance education:<\/p>\n

But while PISA [Programme for International Student Assessment] results suggest that limited use of computers at school may be better than not using computers at all, using them more intensively than the current OECD average tends to be associated with significantly poorer student performance. ICT [Information and Computer Technology] is linked to better student performance only in certain contexts, such as when computer software and Internet connections help to increase study time and practice.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

By “cherry picking”, I’m referring to the practice of selecting which students to admit with an eye towards enhancing performance by having only the best students admitted to your charter school. \u00a0This has a couple of problems.<\/p>\n

Intellectual Segregation<\/h4>\n

There are undeniably positives to grouping high performing students together, such as the phenomenon I call laddering<\/em>, in which the intense competition between students serves to inspire them to better performance. \u00a0I often see this in fencing, as new students join the club in groups, become quite competitive with each other, and end up reaching national competition levels simply because of their friendly desire to outdo each other.<\/p>\n

However, the flip side of such segregation is a lack of exposure to the slower students. \u00a0This can cut both ways, as the superior students lose the valuable experience of working, or even just interacting, with the slower students, and the slower students may not receive the tutoring the superior students could have provided. \u00a0This may lead to resentment and other negative social consequences.<\/p>\n

In the end, this division works against one of the most important aspects of society: we’re all in this together. \u00a0The social cohesivity and inclusiveness of American society has been one of our greatest strengths (and thus the resentment towards those who could buy their way out of the draft during wartime). \u00a0As much as it pains me, as an engineer, to suggest that peak efficiency is not as important as other factors, this may be one of those situations.<\/p>\n

Ghettos<\/h4>\n

And then what will happen to the slowest, the disabled? \u00a0Today we try to mainstream them, making\u00a0them part of our classes\u00a0and\u00a0part of our world, rather than pushing them off into a group home where we wait for them to die. \u00a0How many charter schools will take them? \u00a0Especially since many of those parents may\u00a0not have the financial wherewithal to select a favorite school – such schools may not exist as the population of such students will be small.<\/p>\n

As painful as it is, we do have a solution today: they become part of the general school population. \u00a0They are, if you like, a reminder that we do have a shared ideal and heritage.<\/p>\n

Cost<\/h3>\n

The end of public education implies, as well, the end of general taxation support for those public schools. \u00a0 In other words, parents will have to pay for the education of their children<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Is this good? \u00a0I put it this way because too often we wish to suggest there is not enough personal responsibility in the world, and it would certainly be a better world if we were better at it. \u00a0I certainly am as guilty of that as anyone, from getting vaccinations to getting the proper physical exercise.<\/p>\n

But consider this: an educated populace is a superior populace.\u00a0 I should hope this is not a controversial statement. \u00a0We are, in the end, a collective, a collection of people whose lots are thrown together, voluntarily or otherwise, and our individual fortunes depend to a large extent on the capabilities of our fellows as well as ourselves. \u00a0It is to our mutual benefit to make sure everyone is educated to a level which permits productive functioning in today’s society while enabling advanced education as appropriate.<\/em><\/p>\n

Furthermore, there is a matter of justice. \u00a0Mr Peppers points to research showing some students can educate themselves. \u00a0For those of us who like multisyllabic words, these are autodidacts. \u00a0Not all kids can do this, and probably not even half of them. \u00a0When an adult has a child and cannot pay for that child’s education, then I have to ask: what has the CHILD done to deserve the punishment of losing an education? \u00a0This is simply a matter of justice\u00a0– that a child, not responsible for the situation into which they are born, not be asked to pay for the\u00a0inability of the unprepared or uncaring parent.<\/p>\n

As a society, we collectively benefit from the education of all children, and therefore we should collectively pay for that education, and not saddle unprepared adults with that burden. \u00a0While we could<\/em>\u00a0then return to taxation and distributing the taxes to the private schools using a voucher scheme, or any other scheme, we’re now in the dangerous territory of taxing the populace and redistributing the funds to private businesses; not that this is unprecedented, but the opportunities for corruption at the intersection of disparate sectors (private to government, in this case) are well documented and, sadly, rife.<\/p>\n

Pepper’s Examples<\/h3>\n

I did find it interesting how the examples of private schooling outdoing public schooling comes exclusively from third world countries: India, Ghana and Somaliland (where the metric is simply the number\u00a0of operating schools!): countries where corruption is not only rampant, but customary. \u00a0To use these examples to condemn public schooling is rather like suggesting that Little League baseball’s failure to make it on ESPN 1 means that Major League Baseball hasn’t a chance against the National Football League. \u00a0Is Denmark, Sweden, Germany in similar straits? \u00a0Do their public schools produce illliterates?<\/p>\n

And he doesn’t really seem to be aware of the United States educational system:<\/p>\n

But unfortunately the public schools, saddled with bureaucracy and undisciplined by any real feedback from customers (i.e. students) will simply not be up to this task. No top-down, take-it-or-leave-it process ever could be.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There is plenty<\/em> of feedback: in certain circumstances, we may replace members of\u00a0the school board. We may attend PTA meetings. \u00a0We may volunteer at the schools. \u00a0The US system of educational dispersion (recently impinged on by the Republican’s testing regime of No Child Left Behind<\/a><\/strong><\/em>; it’s not clear to me if the recently passed Every Student Succeeds Act<\/a><\/strong><\/em> removes that impingement) permits plenty of feedback\u00a0at the local level; sometimes, given local prejudices, it seems like too much.<\/p>\n

Conundrums<\/h3>\n

OK, all this said, I make no claims that what we have is all that great. \u00a0My suspicion, based on some limited conversations with teachers, is that it’s a management problem. \u00a0From a verbal discussion:<\/p>\n

Hue, I don’t even care what style of teaching they want us to do. \u00a0Just Stop Changing It!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In other words, the State legislature periodically changes how teaching should happen, and the hapless teachers have to fall into line\u00a0by law – throw out what’s been developed because the latest fad caught some legislator’s attention, and now we’re a-heading thataway. \u00a0Whether this applies to all States is beyond my ken, but it does seem likely.<\/p>\n

Add to that a drought of funding, a malicious changing of rules so that the charter schools can take over, and you can see why public schools can seem to be worthless.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h3>\n

All that said, all of my pessimism about the efficacy of private sector methods in the education sector, doesn’t amount to a hill of beans as to the future of public education, because that will be set by the attitude of the populace. \u00a0Continued superficial discussions of education such as this one, if they dominate and are unchallenged, may indeed result in the death of the public education, and the loss of its role in uniting the populace behind the ideas that make the United States a cohesive entity, and may in fact result in the dislocation of the country.<\/p>\n

But that’s another rant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Don Peppers in a LinkedIn article\u00a0pursues an old libertarian dream: State-sponsored public education in almost every country in the world is unsatisfactory and inept, a scandal we\u2019ve tolerated far too long. … In Matt Ridley\u2019s ambitious book The Evolution of Everything, he dedicates a full chapter to a sweeping story \u2026 Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2963"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2963\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2974,"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2963\/revisions\/2974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}