Public Versus Private Education

What is a private company? A public one? What is outsourcing? Offshoring? What about private versus public education?

We hear these terms daily in relation to retirement plans, manufacturing, education, as it relates to public retirement plans (i.e., Social Security, 401K, IRAs and such) education and non-curriculum-oriented educational services (e.g., food service, transportation, grounds keeping, etc.).

Another arena which this debate enters is private versus public companies, stock options, etc., and the term, “outsourcing”. Prisons are a growing private industry where once they were public (i.e., government owned and operated).

What about judges and lawyers and legal clerks?

Some of the terms, and the concepts they are supposed to convey (and yes, obfuscation, euphemism, and other forms of double-speak most definitely enter into this) pose a bit of a conundrum—and one which I do not claim to be able to unravel.

If Republicans claim to not be about big government, then why is the political presence and power of Republicans increasing in government, creating in some ways, the proverbial government without walls (i.e., you don’t know where they begin or end…the edges are definitely blurred). If Republicans claim that privatization is the way to go, then why, in their capacity as government fixtures, are they negotiating this?

If Democrats claim that they are not for big business, then why are many of them party to the outsourcing of services and other privatization issues?

Consider for a moment that there is a history of problems in education in California, and more specifically, in San Diego schools. If the public sphere hasn’t done a good job, why not allow the private sphere to contribute their expertise? Don’t they already do this through Partnerships in Education? Shouldn’t companies, great and small, contribute to their communities in this fashion? Shouldn’t they contribute to the future success of their own industries as well as other industries that entertain, inform, and otherwise serve their communities?