CURMUDGUCATION blog: Education and Profit go together like a horse and carriage?

Education and Profit Posted by Peter Greene: 21 Aug 2016 Even as many charter fans are backing away from the idea of for-profit schools, last month found US News running this piece arguing that profit-making and education go together like a horse and carriage. The author is Ian Lindquist, a 2009 graduate of St. John’s College (the read great books people), former charter school teacher, and current fellow at AEI. Lindquist wants us to know that the profit motive is completely compatible with sectors that provide public goods. In fact, in response to the criticism that “this profit motive renders for-profit schools incompatible with public education,” Lindquist has a simple response: This is nonsense. Lindquist’s argument would have been better off if he had quit there. But he didn’t. Here’s the rest of the nonsense paragraph. Education is not the only sector that provides public goods. Indeed, there are many public goods handled by private companies: hospitals, prisons and transportation systems operated by for-profit providers ensure public health, public safety and public transportation. In none of those cases does profit motive necessarily dispose the company to abdicate its mission of serving the public. In these cases, companies’ ability to provide the best product possible is aligned with their ability to make money and pay their shareholders. Far from giving up their social missions to seek profit, they need to serve the public both to accomplish that mission and gain profit. Without mission, no profit. The mission is and must be primary.[emphasis mine] Um, no. The health care industry in the US has been ranked among the worst in the developed world for a few years now, but if you don’t want to have that debate, let’s consider a few other points. Follow the link below…

Source: CURMUDGUCATION: Education and Profit