To the Editor:
In response to “Education Budget Roiled by Financial Crisis” (Oct. 1, 2008):
During the past 25 years, the corporate sector imposed a business model of accountability on the public schools. The notion was, what’s good for business is good for education. The blunt message was that educators needed to clean up their act or face harsh sanctions, which could amount to the privatization of public schools.
Now the gross negligence of the financial industry necessitates a bailout of the private sector with vast sums of public money. The corporate leaders whose reckless decisions created this crisis jeopardized the financial well-being of millions of Americans and brought this nation’s financial markets to near collapse.
Well, what’s good for public schools must also be good for business. The actions of these corporate decisionmakers created a clear and present danger to our national security. Denying them golden parachutes is a necessary but insufficient rebuke. It is time for serious corporate accountability in the form of punitive—and hopefully preventative—sanctions.
William G. Wraga
Professor
College of Education
University of Georgia
Athens, Ga.
