Companies abuse their power

School, as defined by Dictionary, is an institution for educating children. According to many other dictionary resources, school is a public place where students go to learn. The origin of the word school was from the ancient greek word skhol?. Skhol? means leisure and a safe place for discussion and learning, Now the classic definition of school is being rewritten by companies. There have been no dictionary definitions which state public schools are for profit.

However, North America has slowly adopted schools as a business model. Schools have become North America’s newest economic industry, earning huge corporations billions of dollars, and or creating new educational markets which earn billions of dollars. NJ Education found that Pearson, a massive educational corporation, alone makes millions of dollars each year. Pearson has contracted with the state of New Jersey to the price tag of $108 million dollars for the use of their PARCC otherwise known as the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. Pearson has fully contracted with 7 other states, as well partially in 3 additional states. This computerized standardized test is their newest financial investment.

It further isolates the poorer communities from the general population and feeds the media propaganda that that class of people are inferior. Not only are companies taking advantage of capitalizing on statewide purchasing of their standardized tests, but also capitalizing on the purchasing of their school textbooks. Publishers often rewrite a chapter or two and market it as updated edition, making sure to keep full priced texts on college book stores, rather than be excluded from the profits of the “ Used Book” resale shelf. The National Association of College Stores stated that the average college students spends an annual of $655 on textbooks. As inflation rises, a single textbook can cost as much as $300. Since America has industrialized education, there is a plethora of so called educational resources.

So it is to be expected that the three largest educational publishing companies will invest millions in advertising and selling their programs to schools and universities across the United States. The monopoly within the educational publishing world primarily owned by three main companies, Pearson, McGraw-Hill Education and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt will go to great lengths to retain their monopoly. According to Politico half of Pearson’s 8 billion dollar budget comes from its North American education division alone. As school’s budgets and fundings are being cut, they are becoming desperate for sources of funds. Schools, particularly high schools and colleges, are using their sports games as a way to gain sponsorships.