Why Schools Can't Be Run Like Businesses

Larry Cuban's book, The Blackboard and the Bottom Line: Why Schools Can't Be Run Like Businesses starts off with an anecdote that can't be told too many times. It's about an ice-cream tycoon, who makes the best blueberry dessert in the country, exhorting teachers to do better. "If I ran my business the way you people run your schools, I wouldn't be in business very long!" He scoffs. Then a teacher stands up and asks him what he does when bad blueberries arrive on his loading dock. He sends them back, of course. But you can send back students, can you? And that's just one reason public schools can't be run like businesses. (NEA Today, October 2008)