Quote:
Originally Posted by Flash Walken
I know several businesses that do not have shareholders and do not make 'profit' that are still businesses.
I can tell you from witnessing the inner workings of a private school from the administration side that it is very much a business.
'Keeping the lights on' is often a euphemism for "building a new soccer pitch to attract better student-athletes (and the dollars that go with them). Maybe the school needs a new state of the art rowing centre. I've seen student athletes like this up close, they carry huge dollar symbols around them in the form of their parents who are willing to invest it all if it means Johnny or Sally has a better shot 'at the big time'. It's not uncommon that a school will have separate administration departments for Alumni squeezing and student recruitment, where one is usually paying for the other.
Sitting in some of those staff meetings where the discussion on the table is to increase the amount of spaces for students or increase the amount of administrative positions can be pretty freakin' awkward.
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Yep. Any organization that is beholden to its customers is essentially a business even if they're technically a non-profit organization. Particularly where the administrators and board of governors can personally profit from the success of the school.
In certain ways that has its value, in that can help weed out incompetence. But it also has an ugly side where teachers are keenly aware that what keeps them employed is satisfying the customers, even when doing that runs contrary to providing the best education. Teachers at high end private schools tend to be very cognizant of which students have influential parents and what can happen if you happen to provoke the ire of the wrong person. If it comes down to supporting a teacher or keeping a wealthy family happy it's usually pretty clear where administration will place their loyalty.