The Atlantic: Better Schools Won’t Fix America

[roethlisburger]

@JHS

It’s funny – This is probably the only country in the world where people talk like that about education and health care, and it has gotten really mixed results. There are some very bright spots of quality – some associated with “free market” systems, others really not so much – and a lot of general failure, all at exceptionally high cost. The quality record of large-scale (i.e., not just an individual or two), for-profit providers in both fields is actually horrendous.

For the most part, the most prestigious colleges are private, not public universities. Harvard operates a lot like a for-profit institution. It may not have a stock price to look after, but there is a drive to perpetually increase the size of the endowment.