Commentary

Private busing hinders learning?

Those of you who think that who drives kids to school or who fixes them their lunch doesn’t affect how well they learn the three Rs are wrong, according to a union rep: From busing children to school to making their lunchtime meals, private companies are increasingly performing work traditionally done by school district employees, a National Education Association official said in Cheyenne on Wednesday. If not reversed, that trend has the potential to seriously damage the country’s public education system, said NEA Secretary-Treasurer Lily Eskelsen. “We think there are certain things that are public services that shouldn’t be at the mercy of CEO stock options,” Eskelsen said. If private provision of non-core duties makes it harder for kids to learn their ABCs, maybe we should re-examine schools’ practice of using private sector paper and pencils. Perhaps it would be best to form a “pencil providers” division within the NEA, after all, we shouldn’t let those fat cat pencil CEOs put their profits before our children.