Blogocentric Formulations

Economics 101

The other night on the news, I saw a story where a high school teacher is selling ad space to local businesses on his tests, quizzes, handouts, etc. for his classroom. It's interesting that the way the story was presented, it took a, "Can you believe how some people will do anything for a couple extra bucks?" slant... and then later on in the story, there was the slightest of mentions that the teacher (who does teach an economics class) came up with this solution to both teach his students real-world economics... and respond to the school's new policy of not paying for ANY instructional materials for teachers. Teachers in this school are now responsible for paying for all of their own books, photocopying, white board markers, etc.

I'm not even going to get started on a commentary about the U.S. media and their sensationalist tactics (I'll save that for another blog)... but I will say that, as someone who learns best from real world examples, I think it's pretty cool that this teacher found an out of the box method which not only solved the problem of having to pay out of pocket for his own photocopies, but also serves as a valuable instructional tool for the students in his economics classes... AND helps promote local businesses in this tough economic climate.

I say, "good for him!". It's a pity that some media outlets are spinning the story as if the teacher were a morally bankrupt sell out. While rampant greed and unchecked capitalism always make for a good story, it seems to me that in this economic climate, a more worthwhile, useful, and interesting story would be the one that depicts a struggling teacher finding a workaround to our current economic crisis, rather than a corrupt individual trying to make a few extra bucks.

But maybe that's just me.