Money Corrupts

As a marketing director for educational films, I encountered customers who worked out special deals whereby they would pay X amount for films, and then a percentage would be sent back to them. One customer was put in jail for this while I was employed in that business. These deals were worked out in other areas of the company so none of the people at my level were directly involved, but some were aware. I left business disgusted with the lack of ethics. Little did I know that superintendents could teach business people a thing or two, and that the lack of ethics would be multiplied exponentially in education!

As an office supply salesman, my father encountered school districts that had special arrangements with special kickbacks. He refused to handle those accounts, since he believed in being ethical. But he knew they existed. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. The difference was that they put up with his ethical ways because he was such a successful salesperson, whereas schools will not put up with an excellent teacher who gets in their way. Schools don't have to concern themselves with successful teachers because they are not accountable to anyone. Businesses have to respect their bottom line - money.

Do you really think that: the Olympics experienced corruption and organized crime manipulation; Enron and World.com are corrupt and cheated thousands of people out of their savings; the Catholic Church covered up sexual abuse; the Red Cross didn't pay out monies earmarked for 9/11 victims; campaign finance and politics leads to self-serving decisions; and Martha Stewart might even be designing felt flowers for jail bars, but our schools are pillars of virtue? Get real. Start seeing evil. You ain't seen nothing yet. Wait until the recent crop of graduates get out into the business world after being taught by some of the most unscrupulous characters around. Keep in mind that those folks out there who have given us greed and disgust, were more than likely taught by the old fashioned, upstanding school teachers and administrators that used to inhabit our schools. Just think of the possibilities out there when this group grows up having experienced schools run by thugs. They will either be more devious, or more dysfunctional depending on whether they buy into the current establishment in our schools, or become appalled by the hypocrisy and fry their brains so they don't have to think about it.