> How is capitalism the thing valuing teacher's salaries? If referring to the US and public education, aren't they a branch of the government?
The tax base that funds the schools depends on the whims of capitalism.
The tax base that funds the schools depends on the whims of capitalism.
And even ignoring that(for example, at private schools), the 'consumer' here is really the parent. The child isn't in a position to choose schools, so it's really about selling to the parent. I imagine it has to be hard to get a sense of any 20-year projected ROI if you can only indirectly measure teaching quality by what your child says and standardized test scores.