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If you stop chasing profits then there is no incentive to produce a quality product. The US public schools are a great example of that.
by sseveran 13y ago
If you stop chasing profits then there is no incentive to produce a quality product. The US public schools are a great example of that.
- steveklabnik 13y agoThere's no inherent incentive to produce a quality product when chasing profit either, just one that people will give you money for. Sometimes this aligns with quality, other times, it does not.
- mooreds 13y agoBut are profits the best way to measure a "quality product" when it comes to something like education? I would argue not, or at least that externalized costs need to be internalized somehow (regulation or taxation are the typical means). That is to say, if we have for profit public schools, I'd want their profits to be tied to the long term effects of results of their students, not to yearly test scores.
- nickff 13y ago>if we have for profit public schools, I'd want their profits to be tied to the long term effects of results of their students, not to yearly test scores. This is a great idea! Why not do the same for government-run schoolteachers? This may help attract and retain high quality staff, as well as providing low-skilled teachers an incentive to leave.
- grahamburger 13y agoAre you suggesting that I can't determine for myself if a particular school is providing a good long term education for my child? Or that I shouldn't be able to choose to take them to a different school?
- te_chris 13y agoUnless schools somehow got paid for good outcomes then this is a specious argument.
- mogrim 13y agoOther incentives are available. Public pressure, for example.
- saraid216 13y agoWhy do Americans always insist on conceiving of children as products? Why do they always insist that schools produce children? Last I checked, we disallow reproduction at schools.