They’re Trying to Privatize Public Schools. S. Korea Shows Why That’s a Terrible Idea.
Part I: The Corporatization of Education
‘Cutting corners to achieve maximum profit; manipulating data to hide product defects; outsourcing work; spending millions to lure in new customers and investors instead reinvesting to improve product performance; focusing more on creating the appearance of success rather than actually working to achieve it — all while lobbying the government to maintain the status quo rather than innovating to compete.’ While this might sound like business as usual for many of America’s biggest corporations, it is actually the future of education in America if the large-scale privatization of public schools that is already underway is allowed to continue. It is also the current standard operating procedure for many of South Korea’s largest private school companies known as hagwons, one of which I worked in the corporate office of for several years.
The inevitable result of putting billions of dollars of taxpayer money up for grabs in America will be that huge companies will corporatize education. These education corporations will view students as dollar signs, treat education as a product to be marketed and consumed, value test scores like quarterly financial reports, and respond to parents as they would customers who are always right.
