Hairston Warns of Rise in Commercial Education

With the special session on congressional redistricting over, I can now revisit some other interesting things county schools Superintendent Joe Hairston said about education during his news conference last Friday.

You may remember, Hairston called the event to publicly discuss his with the Baltimore County Public Schools after 12 years.

But he also used the nearly hour-long meeting to outline some other issues that have been on his mind.

At one point, Hairston expressed concern about coming changes to public school education. The model, he said, is changing drastically.

"Education in America is at a cross roads," Hairston said. "In some circles, it is becoming more pronounced than ever before. There may even be a move to dismantle public education in its current format.

"It's very threatening to think about that," Hairston said. "The whole process of teaching and learning could very easily shift to a commercial model.

"There's even a conversation of asking a question of whether you even need boards of education or superintendency anymore," Hairston said. "There are models out there that would suggest that you can do without them, but they're not successful yet, but there are models out there.

"There are as many alternatives to the current way we deliver education in this country. The private sector has been a driving force with that," said Hairston.