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SEIFFE:  The Camel's Nose Of School Choice

Thursday, August 31, 2006

By Ralf Seiffe

Ever since I installed a TIVO on the television, I’ve been vaccinated against television advertising.  Except for the old car shows that feature ads for carburetors and automobile tools that interest me, I have not watched general interest advertising for some time.   Over the weekend, however, my ten-year old controlled  the remote and I’m glad he did because he hasn’t yet figured out how to zip through the advertising clutter.  As a consequence, we saw two important commercials.  One illustrated the least common denominator approach to public policy while the other showed a path to school choice.  The way to reform the schools is beginning to take form and for supporters of free markets, the news is good.  

The first ad was one for the Governor-By-Press-Conference showing President Bush at the podium with a stern voice-over repeating all the Governor’s talking points about Judy Baar Topinka.  Then, just when the audience must wonder how the President relates to the Illinois governor’s race, the camera pulls back and the Republican candidate herself jumps up like a jack-in-the-box and glows like a cheerleader.  

My 10-year old son was completely taken in by the ad.  

It told us that Judy is against all the programs the Governor has proposed “for the children.”  The “what is she thinking” tag line apparently had a great effect on my little boy who, until that moment, had exhibited utterly no sensitivity to politics.  The Governor’s spot made its point and had the desired effect; the new poli-tot was immediately offended and wondered how anyone could be “against the children.” 

This brand-new fifth grader is not what one would recognize as a political savant.  Despite this, he understood the message the Governor’s handlers intended when they created the advertisement.  That’s too bad because appealing to a fifth-grade mentality lets the Governor neatly side-step any responsibility for providing an intelligent, nuanced vision for Illinois . 

I promise I will spend a few moments with my son explaining the concept of TANSTAAFL (There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch) so that he might develop some discrimination as he watches political advertising.  Nevertheless, this approach turns out to be a stunningly effective strategy.  It frames the argument and without a clear-cut alternative, forces Topinka to the left and to become what elected Republicans often are, Democrat-Lites. 

Judy’s recent double fault of recommending a new casino with the proceeds going to Big Ed, that wholly owned subsidiary of the Democrat Party, proves the point.  As long as Republicans do not offer a clearly differentiated educational strategy, they remain in that hopeless position of not attracting committed Democrats and driving many conservatives away.  So, the educrats win, ratcheting ever larger, regardless of which candidate captures the governor’s mansion.  

Into this impasse comes the initial appearance of an advertisement for Kumon, a company providing upscale parents with an enhancement to the public education system.  Kumon is an Asian import that uses repetition and immediate feedback to inculcate basic math and verbal skills into children.  The commercial asks parents to buy private tutoring for their children by showing little ones mastering piano and hitting a baseball through practice. 

Kumon, and other private educational companies, are fairly common in upscale communities because parents living there have the wherewithal to purchase these services.  Parents are susceptible because they intuitively recognize that the public system is not adequately educating their children. 

While my limited commercial watching experience may have caused me to miss earlier airings, the appearance of this first, attractive advertisement on expensive broadcast television is extremely significant.  The ad appears to be targeted at a wide demographic audience because if the target were the affluent, there are more focused and less expensive methods.  Instead, by using TV, the company is exposing its product to a much wider audience.  This may or may not increase Kumon’s business but it will create awareness and curiosity about the service.  

I have not discussed this with anyone from Kumon but it’s my sense that their expansion will occur as almost all consumer products do.  First adopters will be those who recognize the pedagogic nonsense that’s infected our schools but do not have the resources to pay their property taxes and send their children to private or parochial schools. As the word gets out, less-aware parents will learn of the service and begin to send their children to Kumon’s tutors. 

When Kumon and its competitors reach some “critical mass” with wider reach and increased depth, they will create a de facto alternative to the public monopoly.  As they do, parents will recognize these private companies offer an effective and viable substitute to public schools.  Families in all economic strata will then begin to demand the advantages the affluent already enjoy.  If the private-sector education companies can keep their prices affordable, they will begin to create the classic pattern of bottom-up market disruption; first appearing with wealthy first adopters then becoming dominant when the middle and lower classes demand the product or service. Politicians who champion this process will benefit from the political disruption that will naturally follow.  

Organic development of a competitive system is a process that will take longer than the more rabid edu-reformers would like.  On the other hand, these private companies are profit-making enterprises that create earnings, rather than deficits.  Accordingly, they can fund their growth with profits that do not depend on actions of the legislature.  Indeed, the more successful the advertisements, the faster the change will come.   

©2006 Ralf Seiffe

Ralf Seiffe advises business start-ups and product launches from Chicago, Illinois and is a political analyst and columnist for the Illinois Leader and Illinois Review.

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