Education as a Business

Our discussion in class Wednesday got me thinking about the purpose of education today compared to what it used to be or maybe should be. I completely agree with anyone who complains about the price of books, class and schools today. They are all ridiculously expensive. However, I think I am different from most students when I say that I have never felt like I have wasted all my time or money on any of these things. Learning is never a waste. Even if it wasn’t something we were interested in at the time, anything we learn in the classroom or through a book is important because it deals with the world around us. Yes, we feel accomplished when we cross off that one homework assignment or get that degree in our hands, but I won’t believe anyone who says they don’t feel satisfied and proud when they are walking around with new facts and ideas in their head, even if it took time and energy without a specific reward to gain that knowledge. I found an article related to this current topic (http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/09/03/3160558/public-education-is-not-a-business.html) about the Governor of North Carolina, Pat McCrory, who wants the purpose of education to be narrowed specifically to what business and commerce need. Anything beyond that, students “should go to private school.” This makes me extremely upset for future generations of students.  I don’t know specifically what a curriculum like this would call for, but I know it would limit students to only job-connected learning, only one goal at the end of years of learning, and only one reason to learn – to be successful in a business. Education would be just another thing to cross off our list. It shouldn’t be that way. School is a place for students to experience a wide range of topics, get to know themselves and their talents, and take what they learn out into the world somehow (perhaps not in a business setting?). Who are we to say that only the students (or their parents) who are willing to pay so much more money can receive a learning experience of something more than the current needs of a business. “If we fund, operate, and measure public education like a business, we leave the rest of what public education has been.” We need to appreciate learning for what is has been and done for us before it is too late for the constantly narrowing education system.