K-12 SCHOOLS: A SERVICE INDUSTRY.
     Charles Sykes, author of "Dumbing Down Our Kids", was shown on
CSPAN 1/3 broadcasting his speech at San Francisco.
     Sykes raised the taboo question of whether the purpose of K-12
public education is to educate students effectively regardless of
in what kind of school _or_ to perpetuate the public school system.
    Sykes pointedly compared K-12 public schools to America's
hospital system.  He implicitly asked the question of why nobody
argues that the existence of consumer choice between public
hospitals,nonprofit hospitals, and for-profit hospitals is an
"attack" on public health...while any argument for school choice
involving private schools is met by the argument that it is an
attack on education.  He compares hospitals with schools further by
pointing out that doctors aren't government employees and don't
have tenure (and do lose board privileges for their misdeeds),
while ineffective hospitals do close.
     His speech implicitly provokes the whole status of K-12
schools as a service industry, just as hospitals or fast-food
restaurants are.  Patients choose hospitals based on reputation and
past experiencce, and their health coverage pays the bills for
their _choice_.  Burger lovers choose whether to go to Burger King
or McDonald's based on how they perceive they are being served and
on perceived food quality.  Saying that patients know nothing about
practicing medicine will not keep a hospital with a bad reputation
open, nor will the lack of cooking ability on the part of customers
keep a fast-food restaurant with mediocre fries open.
     Public schools in some states are finding themselves unable to
compete with private schools, which have faster enrollment growth
rates (particularly among middle-class kids).  Schools (whether
public or private) are a service industry, and the survival of
public schools will ultimately depend on their ability to satisfy
customers (parents) as well as McDonald's does, because loss of
market share will mean a drop in political support.
--- Simplex BBS (v1.07.00Beta [DOS])
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