96.5 F
San Fernando
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

The Business of Education Goes Bankrupt

Editor, Jason Schaff k I’ve said at least once before in this column that our troubled public education system poses the single biggest crisis that business and our economy face overall in this country. The recently released documentary “Waiting for Superman” really brings this to light. It’s playing at the ArcLight in Sherman Oaks now. As is often said, “everything relates to business,” and this for sure is the case when it comes to the issue of education. Our economy is dead in the water if the way we go about delivering public education doesn’t change. Realizing this is a big issue for business, the Valley Economic Alliance organized a screening of this movie the other day. I jumped at the chance to get in on it. Well, I’m not a movie critic, so I won’t critique the film. I’ll only say that as a layperson I liked it. It’s well done. Hopefully this will get some people to go see it. It hammers away at some major issues. Mainly that the teachers unions are a big part of the problem. Generally, I believe that labor and business should try to work together to some degree, but not in the case of education. The union concept just doesn’t work in this day and age in education. I think we all don’t take teachers for granted anymore like was done in the old days. It’s also a less sexist society (you’ll say that’s debatable). Part of the reason for teachers unions was because so many teachers were women and they were not being paid what they were worth. They were way underpaid. They’re being paid more now – yes in part because of unions but also because we understand that our education system has deteriorated and we need to pay teachers more. The education system has deteriorated because the kids have been totally taken out of the equation. It’s all about stuff like teacher tenure now. The film really drives home that point. You’ve got these kids (in the inner city and suburbia) who really want to learn and literally don’t get taught by some teachers who don’t do anything and can’t get fired because they have tenure. Pathetic and maddening. Before I go on, you need to know that I don’t have any children. What goes on in public education is infuriating to me because it is ruining this country – and not slowly, devastation actually is clipping along at a fast pace. Ever tried to hire somebody lately? Not just unions To make sure that all the blame isn’t put on the teachers’ unions, although they need to own a lot of it, I’d like to point out that the general overbearing, inhumane and illogical bureaucracy in our public education system is also to blame. It’s the same type of bureaucratic thinking that has ruined our local and state governments. Too many people are hired to do too little for whatever reason – but the worst part is they start coming up with these stupid rules and regulations and structures that must be followed because they need to justify their jobs. Why is this bad? Because it is not only wasteful, it takes the human element out of what these people are doing everyday at their jobs and why they are there. The humans in the case of education are kids. So, how does this all relate to business? Pretty simple. Our employee base has deteriorated greatly. We must import smarter people from other countries to do our jobs that entail a lot of science and math. Plus, it’s breeding a culture of kids who don’t care because they are surrounded by mediocrity. Even if their home life isn’t mediocre, the rest of the world when they go to school is mediocre if you are in the public school system. So kids who feel mediocrity is OK are being turned out by our public schools. No, these kids aren’t going to Ivy League schools or even our state schools but they are becoming the potential job base for many of our businesses who don’t require a fancy college degree. What do we do in the business community about all this? Well, first of all, if you have kids or not, become involved in the electoral process and pay attention to people running for school boards and vote accordingly. That’s basic. Beyond that, we as a business community should let all of our public school administrators and teachers know that we are watching and tell them what the business community is looking for in educated students. You don’t have to be a parent to do that. And if we hit a wall of bureaucracy, let’s cause a scene. This newspaper’s commentary pages are available for a public forum on the subject. But remember in your letters and comments to always relate it to how it affects business. That won’t be hard, I’m sure. Go see that movie. Even if you don’t have kids, you’ll react like a parent. Business Journal Editor Jason Schaff can be reached at (818) 316-3125 or at [email protected].

Featured Articles

Related Articles