Grade School Goes Corporate
Businesses want to build better employees, but will that really mean a better education for your child?
By Elizabeth Weiss Green
Posted 4/29/07
Page 5 of 5
Indeed, even the CEOs who sign on to the excellence bandwagon start to sound different when they get into immediate needs. Prudential's Ryan, for instance, doesn't really need a surge in the number of doctors and lawyers. He needs smarter call-center workers.
Admittedly, answering phones is not the future Jackson imagines for her Brazier students, even though, as Ryan points out, working at a call center requires more brains than ever. Whether the long- or short-term vision prevails, this business-driven momentum for public education reform seems unlikely to yield soon. There is, however, one data point those CEOs may not be able to control: what Lawrenesha wants to be. And she wants to be a teacher.
advertisement
