Even after creating and running Lane Tutoring Services in Oregon for a number of years, Joshua Hirschstein still thinks of himself primarily as a teacher. He’s only now beginning to recognize he’s an entrepreneur, too.
What barriers keep teachers from entering the private sector as educator-entrepreneurs? Hirschstein identified several for participants of the EdVentures 2000 Conference in Detroit, Michigan, on July 27-29:
- lack of support from teacher unions;
- public distrust of the private sector using public funds;
- lack of experience and skills in the private sector;
- liability and legal concerns;
- lack of affordable, appropriately zoned sites;
- complexity of contract and tax issues;
- concern with no longer being a “public servant”;
- distrust in the public sector of entrepreneurship.
What can be done to maximize the opportunities and benefits of entrepreneurship in education? The Association of Education Practitioners and Providers, an organization prominent in the creation of a community of educational entrepreneurship, has organized a spring 2001 conference called “Teachers Want Choices, Too,” at the Wingspread Conference Center in Racine, Wisconsin.
For more information . . .
about the spring conference and about AEPP, contact Chris Yelich, AEPP Executive Director, at 800/252-3280 or [email protected]. Until recently, AEPP was known as the Association of Educators in Private Practice.
