>But Steve, you seem to insist that the circus would consist of poorly paid
>powerless lackeys. How do you come to that conclusion?
Jeez, you ever been to the circus? Who makes any money at that? The
"stars" performing in the main rings probably do all right, but the average
circus/carnival worker isn't exactly making the big bucks. Perhaps a
rommantic life and perhaps something I could have run off to a few years
ago when I was a bit more youthful and fancy-free, but not now.
Eric also said (in part):
>I want to have my cake and eat it too
>(I see no reason why we all shouldn't have & eat).
... and...
>
>I'm thinking about all the piles and piles of money that society throws at
>education. Not as much as on defense, maybe, but it's a respectable pile.
>This is not an altruistic endeavor we're talking about. It's a better way
>to help students learn and grow. If society in general can be convinced,
>it could become a way to make a decent living.
Well, like Charles Hill wrote (I think it was him...) here a few posts ago,
this sounds a little like one of those "get rich with no money"
infomercials to me. I don't really understand how this circus is going to
work yet. And past attempts along these lines have not been encouraging.
Do y'all remember Chris Whittle, the advertiser-turned-educator who
embarked on this bold plan (with the help of a guy who used to President at
Yale) to go into the education business? He said that he could run a whole
chain of private schools for less money than it costs to run public
schools, that his schools would be better, and he would turn a profit. It
didn't work-- in fact, I think Whittle has abandoned this project, though I
haven't heard about this much lately.
Maybe you're right, Eric, maybe the Internet helps to change this formula.
Maybe we've finally reached a point where people in the larger society are
so pissed at the way education works that this is the time for
"circus-like" change. But to be perfectly honest, I have a lot more faith
in reforming the system from within than I do in starting another system.
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Steve Krause * Department of English * Southern Oregon State College
1250 Siskiyou Blvd. * Ashland, OR 97520 * Office Phone: 541-552-6630
School e-mail: krause@wpo.sosc.osshe.edu * Personal e-mail: krause@mind.net
WWW: http://www.sosc.osshe.edu/English/Krause
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