Week 2 - Nicholas Suen A01

In Jamie Lee's "The Untold History of Modern U.S. Education: The Founding Father", they discuss how the need for improved education in the United States has resulted in a strong push for standardization through nationally determined curriculums through privatized companies such as Common Core. Lee discusses how the Common Core program intends to "...uniform education and mono-mind our children..." (Lee 2014), and how monetized education has become in the United States. I found this to be particularly interesting because of how monetization is a concept frequently brought up in other programs that should be federally controlled. For example, many prisons in the United States are owned and operated by for - profit organizations, despite performing a federal service. In an episode of the popular TruTV YouTube series "Adam Ruins Everything", the characters learn "... nearly one - fifth of prisoners are held in for - profit facilities." (TruTV 2016) 

Adam Ruins Everything - The Shocking Way Private Prisons Make Money

It is kind of disturbing that programs such as education and incarceration, can be controlled by third party for - profit organizations despite really being federal responsibilities. For educational programs, this is especially concerning because the Common Core curriculum is mandated nationally by the federal government, thereby monetizing the standardization of the United States education system. Although I believe education throughout the country needs to follow some kind of standards in order to ensure consistent curriculums from one school district to another. However, following a program that is not specifically designed for improving the educational system is unethical and irresponsible. 

Question: 

How can the federal government standardize education without monetization and limiting free - willed thinking? 

References 

Lee, J. (2016, June 17). The Untold History of Modern U.S. Education: The Founding Fathers. Retrieved October 01, 2017, from http://www.wakingtimes.com/2014/01/28/untold-history-modern-u-s-education-founding-fathers/

T. (2016, November 23). Retrieved October 01, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqQa_0gM6hg