Network Schools – Wayne Gerseny to https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/04/03/magazine/thomas-piketty-interview u w B l.html?h I’ll smid=url-share the Is for

I read with great interest today’s NYTimes editorial titled “Democrat or Republican, You Probably Love the Post Office“, which offered full throated support for recent bi-partisan legislation designed to get the USPS on stable footing after years of operating in the red. One paragraph in the editorial was particularly insightful:

Privatization is a bad idea. The Postal Service is arguably the only government agency that exists in every American neighborhood— rural and urban, rich and poor. It has an enviable infrastructure that includes the largest fleet of trucks in the country and the largest number of brick-and-mortar storefronts. It remains amongthe most trusted and most popular government agencies. Many people depend on the post office to receive lifesaving medications and Social Security checks. Privatizing its functions would squander something valuable that we all share. Any downsizing must be done with great care.

Now… let me look at public education through the same lens:

• Don’t public schools exist in every American neighborhood— rural and urban, rich and poor?
• Don’t public schools have large fleets of buses and hundreds of thousands of brick-and-mortar facilities?
• Aren’t School Board members, teachers, and school workers among the most trusted and popular members of their communities?
• Don’t communities rely on schools to provide child-care, social services, and schooling to children?

And ye the editorial board that argues that privatization of the POST OFFICE “would squander something valuable we all share” is argues that private schools should receive public funds to compete against a valued community resource? As for downsizing, what is school consolidation and “efficiency” anything BUT downsizing?

This just in: schools are not businesses, they are public assets and utilities! Stop applying business principles to schools!