Some Trends in the Education Industry
Corporate Sponsored Public Schools | Corporate Managed Schools | Sponsored Educational Materials | |
What is it? | Private businesses adopt a local school or schools and pay for facilities or service, often in exchange for say in curricula | Private Management of public schools. Educational management corporations are contrcted by districts to run the schools. | Free "educational" materials provided to schools. Many of the materials have clear consumer messages. |
Trends | New, not widespread. Met with some trouble. | Mixed results, but growing trend. | Major Growth Industry |
Examples | Disney "Celebration" and Burger King Academies. | Edison, EAI, Advantage, and others | "Digging for the Data" |
Who's behind it? | Corporations (like Disney), free-market ideologues. | Corporations, Charter Schools USA, Center for Education Reform, think tanks, potentially parents | Public Relations firms, Ad Agencies, Publishing, Marketing, potential teachers and Administrators |
Impact on communities of color | Academic and career tracking | Ignores specific needs, loss of community jobs, and imposes corporate curricula | Kids are trained as consumers |
Corporate Standards | Vouchers | School-to-Work | |
What is it? | Everyone wants standards, but what kind of standards. The economic right and corporations want made-to-order workers. | Public money goes to private schools in the form of a voucher or tax-credit. Also, "private vouchers" are a growing trend. | A broad range of programs, some good, some bad. Usually includes work experience during school and job placement. |
Trends | related to school-to-work, very timely, winnable? | Small but growing. | Exists in some form almost everywhere. |
Examples | Business Coalition for Education Reform's "Standards Mean Business" campaign | Milwaukee, Cleveland, HOPE and HELP scholarships. | Donation of FAX machines for resume faxing |
Who's behind it? | Clinton, BCER, Empower America, chambers of commerce, Pete Wilson, and others | Bradley Foundation, Children's Educational Opportunities Foundation, Wal-Mart, Texas Public Policy Foundation, and many parents | Business Coalition for Education Reform (BCER)and chambers of commerce |
Impact on communities of color | Tracking, stigmatizes students and communities of color | Give individual kids access to exclusive schools. No systemic solution | Tracking in educational opportunities and job choices |
- 188 Consumerism & Commercialism
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