Response to Your Questions

To my favorite (and only) commenter:

These were your questions (I have numbered them as to clarify my answer):

"1. How do you make sure education of our children does not become twisted and poisoned by business the way many businesses have become today?
2. What protection measures will be placed so that education will stay competitive for the ones in school, and will not fall away when the company finds itself going under from other sources of competition?
3. If the government is going to be "inspecting" these businesses, who checks the government on where the money goes for these schools?
4. If it is to become affordable, how will it remain within reach of low income families if when you have business competition prices will ultimately increase? "

In response:
1. The idea that competition always and necessarily promotes better quality and more efficient production/service, is certainly not a new one. Adam Smith said it first, and brilliantly so in his prolific Wealth of Nations. To expand on this idea, think of the largest retailer, currently, in the world - Walmart. How did it become so successful? By revolutionizing the method of retail inventory, accepting nothing less than the lowest cost from its suppliers, and perfecting the art of store location with respect to local demographics, Walmart has quickly become THE store to be reckoned with. If we apply this same idea to EMOs, we can see that if parents were given a choice, were made to be consumers of their childrens' educations, the academic suppliers would have to become more efficient (e.g. reduce administrative costs), and provide a superior education to succeed.

2. If you think of the cell phone industry - say you use AT&T cell phone service. If you experience terrible customer service, poor cell reception, high rates and frequent dropped calls, what would you do? Change services. And if enough people find themselves in similar situations the company will almost certainly go under. And then what happens to the people still using the service? Well in most industries, one of two things would happen: 1) The failing company would hire an outside consulting firm to save it through restructuring; or 2) Another more successful company (say, Cingular) will buy the failing company and merge the services. If we apply these ideas to EMOs, the same would hold true. I must note here that the most unfortunate aspect of the idea of "corporate" schools is that if one company is successful that must mean, by definition, that another is not. But is that situation any worse for the students, as compared to the current system? I submit that it is not. What happens to children stuck in public schools that are failing (e.g. in Mississippi)? Is there any hope for a merger? a buyout? a consulting firm?

3. This question is at once both devastating and simple. The answer is so plain, so concrete, yet so often forgotten: You. Me. Everyone who votes. WE are responsible for being Big Brother's big brother. The legislative process is in place for OUR protection, not to safeguard the rights of corporations. If an EMO has violated its contract with a student/family (to provide a safe, effective and comprehensive education, for instance) then the family has options to right that wrong: namely, the court system. The EMO has violated a contract and is therefore responsible for whatever consequences may be stated in said contract. What options does a single black mother whose children are consistently being let down at school by their teachers, principals, school board, etc., have? Where does she turn?

4. Firstly let me say that by its very nature, competition drives prices DOWN, not UP. Again, look at Walmart - why are they so successful? Because everything is CHEAP. Another point to be made about Walmart is that, for the most part, it is exactly the same despite the surrounding demographics. The richest family in the richest neighborhood pays $1.29 for a jar of pickles, and so does the family that lives 5 blocks down in government housing. This idea is the same with education.

What I feel it is most important to realize is that privatization of all education is not a perfect answer, but one that is vastly better than what is now offered. We have given public education a chance, and a lengthy one at that, and it is clearly failing many of our children. Is there a system that could do worse? The answer is frighteningly simple.