The Failure of Education Following a Business Model

Okay, business is a process of buying and selling consistent product, and it is crucial to the economy, granted. It succeeds when it dishes out the same at the lowest common denominator to everyone. But there is a HUGE mistake when it is applied to education, where the business model fails consistently—and it is proven every year by the "improvements" modern administrators and politicians add to it and the test results that follow. Education is not about dishing out the same to all, sink or swim. It is about stimulating all to find their own voice, individuation, and CAN be done when standardization is not the sole deciding factor of a successful teacher. It can be done one-on-one and it can be done with a large class, as history has shown us from the little red schoolhouses that used to be the norm in this country, providing Nobel laureates, Pulitzer-prize winners, and future world leaders. Education's equal opportunity should be in its stimulation of all, not in its doling out of a restricted curriculum and its success measured in digitally-scored testing. If you want to know why we have slipped educationally as a nation, just compare and the results are brutally clear. Of course, developing a group of individual thinkers is terrifying to politicians and bureaucrats, as they are harder to control than sheep. But then again, those who would enforce their power never see the greater advantage of having an educated, powerful, creative electorate. (Then again, these folks also think government should function that way and approach it in the same, mind-numbing way.)

As a new year in education begins, let’s honor our future with creative teachers who open doors and imaginations first over those who are aim for the highest percentile test scores. Let's aim for the highest-quality, happiest-learning students.