Thereis an important editorial in the News today that oddly, perhaps even suspiciously, does not appear (as of 6:35PM) online with todayis other editorials.
The lead editorial is titled, Education System Fails Everyone. And the reason I find its online absence suspicious is because the principal metaphor seems very familiar Oeperhaps because itis the same one I used yesterday to make a similar point.
I didnit even now about the editorial until a BRO reader clued me into the Opinion Page of todayis dead tree edition.
Hereis are the key excerpts from The News:
But hereis another fair point: As investments go, this one is lousy. If education in New York State were a corporation, itis investors would have sold their stock or demanded a new board of directors.
Question: What investor would pay premium prices for stock in a failing company?
The investors trade stock by movingOe
Oetaxpayers can throw all the investments in the world at this corporation and it will continue to fail itis students and customers
Here are the relevant excerpts from my piece that ran yesterday morning:
Imagine youire an investorOean investor in a company with an operating budget of three quarters of a billion dollars and the potential to produce an amazing, transformative product.
OeFurther, he (the CEO) letis his board and shareholders know he needs their support to fix those problems–that if he doesnit get help, little of your investment and none of any subsequent capital raised will go toward bringing the product to market.
OeAnd what if the product heis trying to bring to market is a successful public education system that radically improves kids lives, that attracts families to the city, that lures knowledge and service companies to the area, that is the closest thing we have to a silver bullet against poverty in this country?
What if instead of an investor, youire a taxpayer who has recently been told that little of your money and even less of any additional money coming from the City or the State will make it into the classroom because ithe district operates under a broken modeli and if left unchanged the isystem is not going to survivei?
If youire a smart investor (taxpayer) whois committed to the product (quality public education) it seems that you have only two choices:
- Cut bait and start investing in alternative ventures…
Public education as failing corporation?
Taxpayers as investors?
Education as its product and children (among others) as customers?
Investing in alternatives?
Certainly I donit claim the construct of municipal organ as corporation as my own, but it seems more than just coincidence that a day after I took it out of the closet and gave it a fresh suit of clothes, the News shows up to the party wearing the same outfit and hiding in a corner as if hoping no one will notice.