Giving Kids the Business: The Commercialization of America's Schools
by Alex Molnar
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Book Summary Information
Author: Alex MolnarEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2001-08-10
ISBN: 0813391393
Number of pages: 240
Publisher: Westview Press
Book Reviews of Giving Kids the Business: The Commercialization of America's Schools
Book Review: MOLNAR, GIVING KIDS THE BUSINESS
Summary: 5 Stars
The book offers an unrelenting and awakening take on the effect of corporate marketing on the public education system. Molnar offers themes such as schools for profit, corporate funded curriculum, advertising in schools, and schooling as a business with the enforcement of market based principles to build a powerful defense against a big business influence in modern day schooling.
Strengths of the reading are many including Molnar's constant criticism of Nation at Risk and Workforce 2000, as depicting a failure of public education during the Reagan administration and a deceptive insufficiency of skilled workers in the 1990s which called for increased immigration to make up for the deficit. Molnar enforces the idea that there is no real skills shortage at all, only a decreased opportunity structure. The conclusion that reorganizing schools through market principles and emphasizing continuous worker training as the answer to school failure is just an excuse for corporations to blame schools and teachers for the corporate world's inability to reform public education. Molnar also criticizes big business for taking on a "schizophrenia quality" by later adopting reforms supported by the education establishment to create a situation where there is more equitable funding for both rich and poor school districts by employing private philanthropy instead of supporting an adequate tax base in spite of millions of dollars in profits. The author points out schools are eventually thrown into the free market to complete against consumer demand. As a result, profit and competition now become part of the school system by way of vouchers and charter schools. Molnar also directs the reader to become aware of the competition between corporations to compete with the minds of the children for brand loyalty by employing market driven principles within the curriculum disguised as efforts in school improvement.
Even though weaknesses are infrequent, I think the author should have explored more viable solutions on how to take hold of the public education system and get the business world to relinquish their power over schools and our children. There is a type of open-endedness or "cliff-hanger" type ending of the book where Molnar leaves the reader to ponder solutions for the future. Though an excellent read with an abundance of attacks on the corporate influence in schools, just a few more options for direction in confronting the controversy could have been undertaken.
In short, the book is a useful and effective critical analysis of the dominant market principles in schools. As an educator, I plan to use this information to further investigate and criticize divergent angles continue reflecting on my own ideology and philosophy regarding educational issues in our school system today.
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