Education and business
Lovitt's Lines: Does business really provide a good model for education?
Editor’s note: We published a regular column by the late Tom Lovitt in the original print version of Special Education Today. We called it “Lovitt’s Lines,” and this is the content published on page 9 of the July 1985 issue of Special Education Today, 2(4)—JohnL
Ever since I’ve been in education, I’ve had people tell me, “You should run education like a business.” In the past decade or so, since we have come on hard times financially, I’ve heard this advice even more often.
Personally, I’ve gone through three stages of reactions to this unsolicited advice. During stage one, I didn’t really know what the critics had in mind, but I believed that if I could understand them, they might be on to something. In stage two, I thought I knew what they meant. I believed they were saying that, if we monitored the effects of our instruction more carefully and if we marketed our products and processes more skillfully, we might improve our lot. In stage three, my current epoch, I’ve become greatly disillusioned with the world of business.
I am now quite impatient with those critics who demand that I and others run our show like a business, for I wonder just which business they have in mind?
Perhaps it is General Electric, which was indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly defrauding the government of $800,000 and eventually pleaded guilty to filing 108 false claims.
Or maybe we should imitate the Boeing Company in my home town. They billed the Air Force $748 for two pliers, and also asked to be reimbursed for monies contributed to political campaigns and for sponsoring a paper airplane contest.
Maybe it’s the E.F. Hutton Company? Recently, they wrote checks in excess of deposits at about 400 banks, and consequently, pleaded guilty to 200 felony counts of mail and wire fraud that amounted to $4.35 billion.
Or what about the world of banking? If anyone believed that banks were suitable role models for education, they should read Mark Singer’s “Annals of Finance” in recent issues of the New Yorker. He detailed the sequence of mismanagement that led to the closing of the Penn Square Bank in Oklahoma City and the near collapse of many others.
Those are only examples of corruption. Now let us look at a few current products from some of these “exemplary” companies.
Mattel is introducing a modernized Barbie doll. She will have a business suit, credit card, briefcase, and other paraphernalia that gets her out of the house and into the office. (Stand back, G.I. Joe!) Ralston Purina is coming out with single-serving sizes for Tender Vittles, Lucky Dog, Puppy Chow morsels, and Waggles dog snacks. (Now that’s individualized planning!) Phillip Morris has brought out Marlboro cigarettes in a 25-pack—five more than the ordinary. (Just what the doctor ordered!) The Perrier people are bringing out a new line of citrus-flavored drinks: lemon, lime, and orange. (No need for you folks to add the twist!) And just a few months ago Coca-Cola changed its recipe for the first time. (Anything to stay in tune with the American mood, and compete with Pepsi!)
No question about it, we in education need to clean up our acts—educate more children, more efficiently, and less expensively—but we should not be led to believe that the business world (or the military or the government) is a paragon of perfection. We can certainly identify better models.
So the next time some wag tells me that I and others should run schools like a business, I’ll ask for more specifics, and probably offer a few reasons why I’m not rushing to heed the counsel.
Tom Lovitt was a Professor at the University of Washington.