Ever since President Roh Moo-hyun brought up the subject of the so-called Private School Law and issued a recommendation about what to do about it, there have been increasing calls from elsewhere within the ruling camp about having it "re-revised."
Blue House secretary Lee Byung-wan and National Assembly member Kim Hyuk-kyu have been at the head of this change of heart, and now the idea has gained legitimacy among the so-called "pragmatists." The idea is to make a trade of sorts: since the Grand National Party (GNP) is blocking bills relating to the people’s welfare, the ruling party might want to agree to "re-revising" the Private School Law to please the GNP in order to get their items of interest passed.
Some members of the ruling party, like Yoo Jay-kun and Ahn Young-keun, even go so far as to adopt the argument put forth by the GNP and the corrupt private school operating organizations, namely that the law in its current state is unconstitutional. It is sad to have Assembly members who go with the current flow so easily that they are rendered incapable of determining what is actually unconstitutional.
The idea that the Private School Law is unconstitutional is based on the premise that the private schools in question are private property. However, schools that are run by "school foundations" are the property of their foundations, and are not personal property. That is precisely why the government provides the same amount of wages and other operating expenses as it does for schools established by the government.
Private school foundations’ financial contributions account for only 2 percent of the money that goes to elementary, middle, and high schools. The idea that requiring that a given number of members of their boards of trustees be from outside their organizations, or prohibiting relatives of the chairman of the board from being headmasters infringing on managerial rights, are based on the idea that private schools are personal property. These schools have long been used as means to amass family wealth. Corruption within them has led to major campus disruptions, in turn a loss for students, who are unable to take their classes and are left with less-than-quality education.
The law was made to require changes in the composition of trustee boards and audit systems in order to increase transparency and prevent such corruption. The hope was to guarantee that education remains something for the benefit of the public.
The "give-and-take" approach of the so-called pragmatists is the product of shallow thinking. GNP floor leader Kim Hyong-o has made it clear his party is going to link revising the Private School Law to bills other than those dealing with the public’s welfare. It is unclear which bills the ruling party is willing to trade, but there is no point in drowning while trying to save something so little. Buddha and Jesus, too, were tempted by evil forces, which told them they would inherit the world if they would only sell their souls.
GNP chairwoman Park Geun-hye’s "special aide on digital technology," Hwang In-tae, embezzled 6.8 billion (US$7.1 million) from Seoul Digital University’s tuition income and evaded 450 million in taxes. Hong Mun-jong, the former head of the GNP organization for Gyeonggi Province who was kicked out of the party for enjoying a game of golf in the midst of a flood disaster area, was head of a private school foundation when it embezzled approximately 2.1 billion. How can you call it pragmatism when you are surrendering to a group of people who are holding hostage bills that would better the people’s welfare? What about the parents who have wished so long for transparency in the school system?
[Editorial] Forget revising the ’Private School Law’ |
