Education is a right, and it is the responsibility of the government to ensure that all kids, irrespective of the racial background, financial capacity, or social status, get access to quality education. This right is, however, facing serious threats from private organizations who want the government to privatize K-12 education across the country.
The Reality of Privatization
There is a movement working toward the privatization of K-12 education in the United States. Now, taking a deep assessment of K-12 education, one can deduce that it is partially run by private organizations already. There are many pieces of evidence that buttress this deduction.
One is the case of charter schools which, despite being established and funded by the government, are run by private, sometimes for-profit companies. The increase in the number of charter schools is a direct threat to public schools because the funds used to run them are government funds which should otherwise be used to run K-12 schools.
But corporations are still not satisfied with this partial privatization, and they are hell-bent on going a step further to ensure that the entire public education system is wholly privatized. They have undertaken several activities geared towards achieving this objective, with one major action being the creation of lobbying groups such as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). This controversial group is made up of private companies working in tandem with conservative legislators to formulate what they call “model legislation.”
In reality, though, the group is a front for promoting privatization. All this points to a united and well-organized movement making concerted efforts to ensure the privatization of the K-12 education sector.
Why are Corporations Want to Privatize K-12 Education?
One school of thought opines that competition – an intrinsic feature of the private sector – would greatly help to drive results in K-12 education. Hence, its growth could be dependent on privatization. However, this is an ostensible assertion, to say the least. Private institutions have always been driven by the desire to make more monetary gains, and privatizing K-12 schools would guarantee this because of the indispensability of education.
Conclusion
K-12 education has no place in the private sector. Everything that education represents is totally at odds with what we have come to know about the private sector. Therefore, it behooves everybody concerned about American education to rally against the privatization of K-12 education in the U.S.
