Professional Journal Article #3 American Teacher Magazine - April 1999

The Title of the article is "The Wrong Rx" by Sandra Feldman. The premise of the article is written in the sidebar "Despite how well it usually works, the free-market model is not a good fit for health care or education." I tend to agree for the following reasons. One, since the health care industry has become a for profit organization there has been a noticeable decline in the care provided to patients. I have experienced this first-hand as a patient in the hospital. There was an obvious lack of adequate nursing staff available to meet the needs of the patients. Rarely do the doctors have the authority to treat patients as they see fit. Some doctors are given bonuses for keeping expenses down and others are only allowed seven minutes per patient. This doesn't sound like a place centered on caring for the sick regardless of economic status. It is based on the bottom line $$$$$$$. If education takes the same course government will be happy because much of the burden of expense will be transferred to the private sector. This will allow great disparity in the education services provided to children in our nation. Again, the bottom line will become the credo of those in charge of education and I believe the heart of education will be pierced fatally.

-- Anonymous, April 17, 1999

Answers

Hi Gregg, I agree with the comparisson you point out between education and health care. I was recently having this same conversation with my sister who is an RN. She said that she has seen patient care decline because the nursing staff is so overworked. We know as teachers that our students would be better served if our class sizes were lower and our curriculum not burdened with extra"accountability" paper work. It scares me that two such important services, health care and education, are being compromised by $$$$$$. Thanks for your thoughts! Kris

-- Anonymous, May 14, 1999