Election Issues and Our Community: The Private Sector's Role in K-12 Education

Originally submitted by: jadelay

Education issues have been highlighted by all the candidates during the 2008 Campaign. From the No Child Left Behind legislation to retraining workers whose jobs have become obsolete because of technology or outsourcing, the candidates have staked out a range of positions for educational reform. On May 6, Ann Arbor will be holding a school board election. In addition, voters will be asked to pass two millage/funding proposals. There are several education issues worth discussing on the a2ethics.org forum that are ethics-related. One ethics-related education issue the national candidates have not adequately addressed in their own educational reform plans, is the role of the private sector in our elementary and secondary institutions. The main reason I am bringing this issue to a2ethics.org members' attention, is the University of Michigan sponsored a panel discussion on March 19 about the topic. All of the speakers favored such private-public partnerships, though they had different notions about what such partnerships mean for the education system and for students. I already know, for example, that we have already moved pretty far in the direction of consumerist approaches to education. Increasingly, there is school choice, charter schools and home schooling So, after listening to all the speakers, I came away wondering what they were actually proposing that was new, that is given the already large number of private sector initiatives and the increasing number of educators who are also entrepreneurs? The two main questions I have about this issue that I would like the national candidates to address are: 1. Should businesses take a larger role in developing the curricula of our schools? 2. Should school systems shift entirely to the for profit business model? You may have other issues about education that you want to discuss. What would really be helpful is if we had some questions you would like to ask of our school board candidates before the May 6 election. There will most likely be a debate between candidates running for school board before the upcoming election and covered by Community Television Network and in other media forums, including a2ethics.org.