Education is a basic human right. It is the government’s job to make sure all pupils, irrespective of their social status, financial capacity, or racial background, are able to obtain a quality education. However, this basic right is under a serious threat from private organizations that want to privatize K-12 education across the nation and are pressurizing the government to achieve what they want.

The Real Picture of Privatization

In the United States, a movement is in progress to privatize K-12 education. At present, an individual conducting an in-depth assessment of K-12 education can infer that private organizations are already running it partially. Several pieces of evidence support this inference.

One is how the charter schools are run. Though these schools are set up and funded by the government, they are run by private and, at times, for-profit companies. The rise in the number of charter schools directly threatens the existence of public schools because the funds used to manage them come from the government, which should otherwise be utilized to administer K-12  schools.

Despite this partial privatization, the corporations are far from being satisfied. They are insistent on moving a step further to make sure that the entire public education system is completely privatized. To accomplish this objective, they have started numerous activities, a major one being the creation of lobbying groups, like the ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council). It is a controversial group that consists of private companies working together with traditional legislators to create what they label as “model legislation.”

The reality is quite different, though. The ALEC is a front for supporting privatization. All these events indicate a disciplined and cohesive movement where intensive efforts are made to ensure the privatization of education at K-12 schools.

Why do Corporations Push for the Privatization of K-12 Education?

Those in favor of privatizing K-12 education opine that competition, which is an integral characteristic of the private sector, would significantly help improve K-12 education and bring forth the desired results. Consequently, they say that the growth of the K-12 educational sector could be reliant on privatization. But this is a perceived claim, to say the least.

The desire to make more money has always been at the core of private institutions, and it will be no different in the instance of K-12 education. The privatization of K-12 schools would guarantee monetary gains for the private companies due to the indispensable nature of education.

Closing Thoughts

The private sector shouldn’t be allowed to takeover K-12 education. This is because all that the educational sector represents is completely in opposition to what the private sector stands for. Therefore, it’s the duty and responsibility of everyone worried about American education to publicly oppose the privatization of K-12 education in the United States.