On his personal blog, Dr. Mark J. Perry, a professor of economics and finance in the School of Management at the Flint campus of the University of Michigan, discussed an article from the New York Post about Charles Platt. Mr. Platt is a former Senior Writer at Wired Magazine, who took a job at Wal-Mart to see if the company’s reputation for poor employee treatment is warranted. He left with a very positive view of the company, which you can read at the end of this article.
Both the blog post and the NY Post article are interesting, and I’ve selected some passages from the article to explain how this relates to local school districts.
“If you want better pay, you need to learn skills that are in demand.”
It is critical for schools to teach students skills that are in demand. District school boards play an important role in this effort, because it is the school board that makes policy and personnel decisions that have lasting effects. The local school district can make decisions that encourage and reward community involvement. As a school board member, I would encourage community partnerships to ensure that our students are receiving those ‘real world’ skills that are so important.
“The blunt tools of legislation or union power can force a corporation to pay higher wages, but if employees don’t create an equal amount of additional value, there’s no net gain. All other factors remaining equal, the store will have to charge higher prices for its merchandise, and its competitive position will suffer. This is Economics 101, but no one wants to believe it, because it tells us that a legislative or unionized quick-fix is not going to work in the long term. If you want people to be wealthier, they have to create additional wealth.
To my mind, the real scandal is not that a large corporation doesn’t pay people more. The scandal is that so many people have so little economic value. Despite (or because of) a free public school system, millions of teenagers enter the work force without marketable skills. So why would anyone expect them to be well paid?”
As patrons of this district, and especially as a member of the school board, I will support policies help our students leave our schools with marketable skills that are valuable to their future employers. I would welcome feedback from the business community when making policy and/or curriculum decisions. Even in a healthy economy, school boards must be fiscally responsible and get the best return on the investment of education funds.
Our students, especially special education students, must receive adequate funding and support to gain marketable skills. This support isn’t going to come from the Department of Education. It must come from our community.
Marketable Skills and Community Participation
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On his personal blog, Dr. Mark J. Perry, a professor of economics and finance in the School of Management at the Flint campus of the University of Michigan, discussed an article from the New York Post about Charles Platt. Mr. Platt is a former Senior Writer at Wired Magazine, who took a job at Wal-Mart to see if the company’s reputation for poor employee treatment is warranted. He left with a very positive view of the company, which you can read at the end of this article.
Both the blog post and the NY Post article are interesting, and I’ve selected some passages from the article to explain how this relates to local school districts.
It is critical for schools to teach students skills that are in demand. District school boards play an important role in this effort, because it is the school board that makes policy and personnel decisions that have lasting effects. The local school district can make decisions that encourage and reward community involvement. As a school board member, I would encourage community partnerships to ensure that our students are receiving those ‘real world’ skills that are so important.
As patrons of this district, and especially as a member of the school board, I will support policies help our students leave our schools with marketable skills that are valuable to their future employers. I would welcome feedback from the business community when making policy and/or curriculum decisions. Even in a healthy economy, school boards must be fiscally responsible and get the best return on the investment of education funds.
Our students, especially special education students, must receive adequate funding and support to gain marketable skills. This support isn’t going to come from the Department of Education. It must come from our community.
CARPE DIEM: Poster Child for Enlightened Capitalism: Wal-Mart’s Not The Enemy, But Best Friend We Could Ask For
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