Corporations’ Power Over Education

Winter, Tim. Wamego High School. 2005. Wamego Public Schools.
Accessed 17 Mar. 2011. <http://www.usd320.k12.ks.us/HighSchool/>

Corporations are starting to have a more aggressive influence on the U.S. education system and transforming it into a big business. Many low scoring school districts feel obligated to pay for heavily scripted curriculum programs in order to boost their test results which would heighten the school’s reputation.  According to Alfie Kohn most of these programs that schools purchase in order to raise their test scores are owned by McGraw-Hill (par 3).  Kohn also says that McGraw-Hill has gained support from many influential politicians such as Charlotte Frank and George Bush (par 3).  The massive profit made by this company does not explain why many teachers and students depend greatly on the test results for their curriculum and future.  According to Julie Light the many publically traded education companies are growing faster than the Dow Jones Average (par 3).  Light also claims that the science curriculum for numerous schools are determined by corporations such as Proctor and Gamble, Dupont, and Exxon (par 1).  This corporate power over the curriculum required to be taught at public schools could be detrimental to the entire education system.  With that much power they could force public schools to teach their students to support large corporations and try to manipulate them to do things that would be harmful to them but beneficial to corporations.  Corporations could also mandate that public schools refuse to teach certain things that make corporations look bad and withhold vital information from people so corporations can make even more money.  Light also reports that a great deal of corporations will donate money to a school so they can build or fund something in exchange for the right to actively sell their products at that school (par 2).  According to Light Pepsi provided $2 million for a school in Colorado to build a new football stadium and in exchange Pepsi was granted rights to sell its products at that school (par 2).  It is estimated that Pepsi will earn $7.3 million in seven years from that school alone (par 2).  The power that corporations have over the products that are marketed and sold to children in public schools could encourage many children to be manipulated into buying many things that they do not need.  Many students in high school carry their habits with them into their adulthood and if they overspend their money it would be disparaging effects for much of the U.S. population.  Corporations have too much power over the public education system.   People need to take a more active role to push corporations away from public schools and make sure that public school students make better choices to promote a better world. 

Works Cited

Kohn, Alfie. The Corporate Role in the High-stakes Testing Obsession & Other Methods of Turning Education into a Business. October 2002. 17 March 2011 <http://reclaimdemocracy.org/weekly_article/corporate_influence_education_kohn.html>.

Light, Julie. The Education Industry: The Corporate Takeover of Public Schools. 8 July 1998. 17 March 2011 <http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=889>.

Winter, Tim. Wamego High School. 2005. Wamego Public Schools. Accessed 17 Mar. 2011. <http://www.usd320.k12.ks.us/HighSchool/>