[Winona Online Democracy] Our local public and private schools have done an exceptional job, but to say that none have failed as miserable as Enron when you include the whole country is a very bold statement.
I would submit that there are as many or more school failures as there are corporate failures. Most corporations are led by and have good ethically and morally strong people. Some of the countries companies with committed leadership date their moral history to the founding of our country. As do some schools. I seem to recall a U of M scandal a few years ago that was devoid of ethics. The leadership corrected the problem and thrive again. Profit is not a dirty word nor are good grades. Tom Severson -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Bothuns Sent: Monday, January 02, 2006 12:45 PM To: David; Online Democracy Subject: Re: [Winona] School Administrators/NPR bias [Winona Online Democracy] "> I would add to Paul's comments the following: When shareholders begin > to hold boards responsible for bad decisions by declining to rubber stamp > all proposals and elections, boards may then become cognizant of whom they > represent." This actually leads me to the underlying motivation of my post. For too long we have been told that our education system is failing and that it must be recast in the mold of our business model. I believe this is exactly the opposite of what needs to happen. A strong and vibrant middle class has been the backbone of the US economy and the bedrock of that middle class has been public education. The ethics of business just don't work that well in the classroom (and I would argue that our current business ethic doesn't even work that well for business). I don't think ANY public school has ever failed as miserably as Enron did and we simply cannot afford to allow our schools to fail. If anything our businesses model needs change to try and replicate the almost unprecedented success of our public education system from the end of WW II until the very recent past. It is a system that was once the envy of the developed world. I don't think it is simply coincidence that our attempts to apply business practices in education have fairly nearly coincided with the deterioration of our public schools. The dynamics of a free market just aren't appropriate for a system that is as diverse, challenging , long term, and essential as our system of education. I'm just not willing to trust the future of my children to some "unseen hand". IMHO Bryon Bothun ----- Original Message ----- From: "David" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Online Democracy" <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, January 02, 2006 12:18 PM Subject: Re: [Winona] School Administrators/NPR bias > [Winona Online Democracy] > > > On Jan 2, 2006, at 10:49, Paul Double wrote: > > [snip] > >> Bryon, I think most if not all of us would agree that there are a few >> CEO's >> whose cost clearly does not represent a good value for the corporations >> they >> represent. Until Boards of Directors become responsible to their >> stockholders and not to the CEO little if anything will change and more >> and >> more disclosure information will help stockholders stop some of the >> games. >> No individual, in my opinion, is worth or worthy of any compensation for >> their work, not ownership, beyond 40 percent of the people they directly >> supervise. In the case of very large corporations which will involve >> many >> layers of employees that will by the organizational tree generate more >> for >> those at the top. But the abuses of boards for many very large >> corporations >> to enable this to continue, not in the interest of good management but >> rather, the politics of retaining a good old boy network. >> >> For most, CEO's and owners, the poor examples of the big boy's greed is >> not >> a model that we respect or want to copy. We have enough outside and >> foreign >> competition to fight without having to deal with internal rapist of our >> corporate assets. > > [snip] > > I would add to Paul's comments the following: When shareholders begin to > hold boards responsible for bad decisions by declining to rubber stamp all > proposals and elections, boards may then become cognizant of whom they > represent. > > Currently there are few examples of boards being challenged, credibly. The > current high-profile example of a board being challenged involves Carl > Icahn and his idiotic attempt to protect AOL-Time Warner's shareholder > value. Where was Carl Icahn when AOL's Steve Case was ripping off Time > Warner shareholders? The point remains that shareholder activism needs and > boards of directors need improvement. > > ******************************************** > David Dittmann > > _______________________________________________ > This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy > All messages must be signed by the senders actual name. > No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list. > To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please visit > http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona > Any problems or suggestions can be directed to > mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] If you want help on how to contact elected > officials, go to the Contact page at > http://www.winonaonlinedemocracy.org _______________________________________________ This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy All messages must be signed by the senders actual name. No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list. To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please visit http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona Any problems or suggestions can be directed to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] If you want help on how to contact elected officials, go to the Contact page at http://www.winonaonlinedemocracy.org -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.371 / Virus Database: 267.14.10/218 - Release Date: 1/2/2006 -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.371 / Virus Database: 267.14.10/218 - Release Date: 1/2/2006 _______________________________________________ This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy All messages must be signed by the senders actual name. No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list. To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please visit http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona Any problems or suggestions can be directed to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] If you want help on how to contact elected officials, go to the Contact page at http://www.winonaonlinedemocracy.org
