Everyone seems to be having budget woes. Individuals, school districts, cities, states and the federal government all seem to have hit the wall that stands between fiscal reality and societal aspirations.
That’s a fancy way of saying we want more than we can pay for.
In the past, when we wanted more than what the current income could pay for we borrowed; we used credit cards, second mortgages, bonds, and other forms of IOUs to make the purchases.
Now those IOUs are due and we don’t have enough income to pay them off and continue spending at the same time.
In my house, when things get tough we sit down and figure out what we can cut back on, what we can do without.
Cities and school districts are doing the same thing.The choices are tough. None of the options are pleasant and some are unbearable. Not eating is not an option, but we can eat less. We can give up expensive steak for cheaper hamburger. Not having teachers is not an option, but we can have fewer of them.
Many districts are laying-off teachers in record numbers. And many districts are trying to find ways to lay off more expensive senior teachers in favor of less expensive new ones.
Districts try to justify this blatant ageism by claiming that more senior teachers are less effective than newly minted ones. They try to sell the gullible public on the notion that more senior teachers are burnt-out and ineffective, just going through the motions and collecting a sizeable paycheck until they reach retirement.There are some teachers like that. Not many.
Unfortunately, the idea of school as business has also taken root. Mayors like New York City’s Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire businessman, are seizing control of school systems and putting bean counters in charge of education,
While most American schools operate on a factory model, they are not factories and not businesses. I could go into details of how schools differ from businesses, but its been done before and is getting tedious.
Instead, I’m going to point out that most businesses fail.
Businesses fail for exactly the same reasons schools fail: under-financing, misuse of resources, lack of clear concept and direction, bloated or out-dates product lines, over-promising while under delivering, and bad management. I’m saying this as someone who worked in and managed businesses in a variety of fields before becoming a classroom teacher at age 50.
The school-as-business advocates point to Fedex, Apple, Microsoft and the like as models. I remind them of Enron, Washington Mutual, Chrysler, and the tens of thousands of small businesses that fold every year. There is also a very basic philosophical difference between schools and businesses.
Schools are all about very long-term investments; businesses are about short-term returns. Cutting staff in a business can make the annual dividend bigger; cutting teachers in a school can make the generational dividend much, much smaller.
The effect of not having that music, art, gym or math teacher today won’t show up for another ten to fifteen years and by that time no one will connect it to today’s teacher layoff. That delayed effect is why teachers seem more expendable than sanitation workers, for example.
People notice right away if the streets are piled with garbage, but we may never know how many potential scientists, artists, musicians or writers never get developed or what the actual cost of that will be.
I know people get tired of hearing it, but teachers ARE different.
Related posts:
- The Principal’s Role in Education
- The Principal’s Role in Education Part II
- Part 2: Education is a Team Sport
- Part 4: Making an Impact on Students
- Part 3: Every Child is Smart
Tags: education, Education in the United States, New York City, Public school (government funded)
Hi Deven,
I always marvel at your way with words. You manage to put out a BIG message in so few words. No fluff, “just the facts, sir, just the facts”. Maybe that is the Twitter effect, but I love how you get it done.
This post should be sent to everyone who has any decision-making power about education. “People notice right away if the streets are piled with garbage, but we may never know how many potential scientists, artists, musicians or writers never get developed or what the actual cost of that will be.” Such true words, my friend.
Deven – you hit the nail on the head! We as a society will not see the effects of the current round of teacher layoffs, until after everyone forgets (our generation will be retired), about why this generation of students did not get taught something or many things. It seems that we always tend to look at short term solutions for long term problems.
Unfortunately, for this generation that we are attempting to teach in today’s world, that kind of thinking will only lead to lots of problems in the short and long term.
Harold
Excellent and I totally agree with this.
“There is also a very basic philosophical difference between schools and businesses.
Schools are all about very long-term investments; businesses are about short-term returns.
Cutting staff in a business can make the annual dividend bigger; cutting teachers in a school can make the generational dividend much, much smaller.”
I couldn’t agree more with you. Our kids are long term investments and not short term.
Hi Harold: I agree, we are being myopic. As a parent, I feel helpless. I should do something about these changes that affect my child’s education. ~ Aparna
That is a great idea Paula! Deven is indeed a great writer. We are so grateful to have him contribute. ~ Aparna
Thank you all for the kind words. Great teachers taught me to write and other great teachers taught me how to edit. It took a while before it all clicked.
[...] know Deven has previously written here about how education should not be treated like the business world, and while I totally agree with [...]