Community Engagement for Better Schools by Michael Guo-Brennan

Author:Michael Guo-Brennan
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783030540388
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Marketizing Education

Education is in a unique position among services deemed essential to society. The complete privatization of education and requiring consumers to pay the full cost of services is not a viable option in the United States or elsewhere. Unlike electricity where those who pay benefit from its provision and those who don’t pay are not able to enjoy the benefits, education has significant spillover or neighborhood effects that justify government involvement. Being able to read, write, and do basic math benefits the consumer of those services. It increases their knowledge and skills that will enable them to obtain gainful employment and a higher quality of life. In addition, there are neighborhood effects that occur. By mastering the knowledge and skills needed to secure meaningful employment, the individual contributes to the good of the society by paying taxes and not being a burden to society by accessing public welfare services. Education also contributes to active citizenship, participation in the democratic process, and the ability to practice self-government. These neighborhood effects justify the government role to guarantee access, funding, and accountability and make pure privatization unlikely.

However, much like certain government-funded health-care programs, government involvement does not require that the government act as both producer and provider of education services. Governments maintain public health clinics, VA hospitals, and other facilities that in many cases directly compete with non-profit and private providers. Those eligible for Medicaid, a joint federal and state program that supports free or low-cost health care, often use their Medicaid dollars to access privately provided health services. Similar to Medicaid, Medicare, a government-subsidized health insurance program for people over 65 or with certain disabilities, provides financial assistance to access a variety of health services including private doctors and hospitals. The Department of Veterans Affairs, which maintains the largest integrated health-care system in the United States including 1243 health-care facilities, provides funding to see a private doctor for those who must drive more than 30 minutes to reach a VA provider or wait longer than 20 days for an appointment (“Medicaid program,” 2020; “Medicare program – general information,” 2019; Wentling, 2019; “Where do I get the care I need?,” 2018).

These efforts, along with the selling off of government enterprises, demonstrate that government need not be the exclusive producer or provider of all services once thought to be the purview of government. The free market is able to provide these services more efficiently and more effectively than government. The privatization of government services such as local utilities, garbage collection, or even some recreational services suggests that government is able to provide for them while not serving as the producer, either in a monopolistic environment or in competition with other producers. Today government maintains a near monopoly in education services. Those that do compete with public schools do so in an uneven playing field. Rather than serving as a referee, and assuring the environment is fair and open, government deliberately limits competition through regulation and legislation.

Evidence here clearly indicates this does not have to be the case.

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