Recently, Michigan State Senator Phil Pavlov, chair of the state Senate’s education committee, announced that he was preparing legislation that would allow school districts to effectively outsource the teacher hiring process. Under the proposed law, districts could enter into contracts with private, for-profit “instructional services” companies to fill classrooms. Teachers would still need to meet the certification requirements of the state, but all hiring decisions would be out of schools’ hands. Essentially, teachers would become temporary workers sent to fill positions at the will of a company that has no ties to the community, and no real interest in student performance beyond what is necessary for their reputation.
Education Week blogger Nancy Flanagan has something to say about that. She envisions a system where a “gung-ho Harvard grad” is teaching 200 kids a year; where a “newly trained, in-state teacher so desperate for a job she’ll agree to reduced starting salary” becomes the norm. She recalls when her own Michigan school district began outsourcing custodial services to save money several years back:
15 out of 36 custodians placed by the private firm were gone by the end of six months and six more were fired while still on probation. Worse–buildings and grounds that had been tended with pride for years were ratty and filthy, and parents felt uneasy about letting their kids stay after school in a building staffed by strangers. You get what you pay for.
She believes that something similar will happen if teaching becomes “privatized.” She argues that when a school is operated under the premise of getting more for less, there is no incentive for schools and districts to spend money on professional development, team building, or “powerhouse programs.”
Turnover would increase, as teachers looked annually for greener pastures, burnishing their skills in low-rent markets, then moving to schools where the pay was better. Full Walmartization of the educational workforce might take some time, but eventually, all edu-jobs could be filled with the lowest-priced employee.
The idea of taking care of each other, in a community, is now outmoded. Intangibles like trust and commitment can’t be purchased. But they do matter.
To read more about the proposed legislation, please visit http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/09/michigan-republican-privatize-teacher-public-education
To read Ms. Flanagan’s post, please visit http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land/
