Using a Business Model in Education

Using a Business Model in Education

We hear that we should be using a business model to run our schools.  And which model would that be?  The one used by the robber barons in the late 1800’s where workers were just tools to be used when healthy and whole then discarded when injured or worn out?  Or a more current and compassionate model that takes into account all the various stakeholders in the education system and works for the good of all the different components of the system?  I would choose the second one.  But it seems that some would rather go back to the slash and burn tactics of corporate raiders from the 1980’s.

Robert Reich, former Labor Secretary and an economist, points out the difference between shareholder capitalism and stakeholder capitalism.  The former concentrates on the concerns of the shareholders of a company which is mainly focused on profits, while the latter looks at the big picture and works to benefit all the various stakeholders in a company - employees, customers, suppliers, citizens, as well as the shareholders.  Which would you consider more sustainable?  I believe the stakeholder model is superior in many ways.  Let’s look at how that compares to our education system.

Some experts would emphasize standardized test scores as the best, and only, method to judge schools and teachers.  That is comparable to the robber baron model or, if you want a more current example, our corporate raider period.  When students are successful in testing, their teachers get awards and, more importantly, bonuses.  If their students do not pass the test, then off with the teachers heads, or at least they should be shown the door for their next career move.

But if we take the education system as just that, a system, there are other goals which are as important, if not more so, than those pesky test scores.  Some of them are just not very measurable, like good citizenship, or leadership, or compassion.  These traits are only apparent over a person’s lifetime, not on a test score.  Certainly, schools can be made better and serve all stakeholders more efficiently and effectively.  But let’s get away from this major emphasis on standardized testing.  Let us discuss and even argue, if necessary, the outputs that we need and want from our education system.  But let us also take into account all the various stakeholders in the process – researchers, teachers, administrators, parents, societal leaders, and most importantly, the students themselves, along with the many outcomes that are needed to ensure continued excellence in our country.