Contracting

"Is that any way to talk about your second uncle?" Qin Xiangshan patted the back of Qin An's head, yet felt increasingly that there was something unusual about the boy's mind...

"Dad told me that when No. 2 Middle School set up its revolutionary committee, the Qin family was a target of the revolution in the first place. You and Dad were both backward elements who weren't enthusiastic enough... Dad only got a warning, but you were outright expelled, and you even gave one of the most aggressive Red Guards a good beating... I don't believe you have any affection for No. 2 Middle School... Besides, when you introduced Dad to Mo Wendi just now, your intentions were far too obvious. Otherwise, Dad's just a junior high teacher with no connection to Mo Wendi. Why bring him along to get involved on an occasion like this?" Qin An wiped his face too and chuckled...

"You little rascal. I don't know how that head of yours works... Still, how does that prove I'm planning to make a move on No. 2 Middle School? What move would I make? I just want your dad to work somewhere better..." Qin Xiangshan was still sounding Qin An out...

"Mo Wendi might not have the final say at the Education Commission, but getting someone into No. 1 High School would still be easy for him... Second Uncle, if you just wanted to move Dad somewhere else, wouldn't No. 1 High School be better? With a wealthy man like you right here, I don't believe Mo Wendi wouldn't dare take on that little task... Tell me, where's the money to be made at No. 2 Middle School?" Contrary to what Qin Xiangshan believed, Qin An did not think of himself as having only recently met this second uncle who had returned from Taiwan. In his memories, his second uncle was a formidable businessman who calculated every move and never lifted a finger without something to gain. He would do something mutually beneficial, such as helping develop his hometown, but donating teaching equipment to No. 2 Middle School, against which he had once held a grudge, or even offering to fund a classroom building, was absolutely not something his second uncle would do...

In his memories, it was during his high school years that No. 2 Middle School became the county Education Commission's pilot project for restructuring under private contract management. He did not know who had possessed the boldness to push it through. In the early nineties, when various economic reforms were just beginning, every step was taken with extreme caution. Even choosing the declining No. 2 Middle School as the first target required some boldness...

Without this information, Qin An could not have guessed Qin Xiangshan's carefully laid plans so easily...

Qin Xiangshan laughed, filled with gratification. Compared with Qin Xiaotian, he felt Qin An truly had the makings of a member of the Qin family. When Qin Xiangshan was thirteen, he could already shoulder half the family's burdens, and his daily collective labor earned several work points. He was gratified by Qin An's precociousness, but did not find it shocking. To the older generation, children and grandchildren who could uphold the family's standing in the future needed precisely this sort of shrewdness and intelligence...

"I've only heard Secretary Tang mention it... County No. 2 Middle School has quite a few problems. Not only is its college admission rate far from satisfactory, but there are all sorts of serious problems within the school. The Education Bureau pours a great deal of money into it every year without seeing any improvement. Fengyu County's former West City Middle School, on the other hand, partnered with private operators to establish a Technical Secondary School Department, and that department's college entrance examination results actually surpassed those of the Regular High School Department. Then West City Middle School was absorbed into that private technical secondary school, and now it's thriving... Several county leaders are considering making No. 2 Middle School a pilot project, but it has a lot of students and more teachers than its staffing quota allows. There aren't many people in Fengyu County with the resources to take on County No. 2 Middle School..." Qin Xiangshan wiped his hands clean, put an arm around Qin An's shoulders, and explained the situation to him. "Secretary Tang wanted to sound me out about whether I was interested. What do you think?"

Since Qin Xiangshan could sit down to a meal with Mo Wendi and was considering having Qin An's father join No. 2 Middle School, he was naturally interested. Qin An had some experience managing schools too, but after taking over his father's position, he had devoted himself to developing their private school into an education investment group, leaving the schools to hired principals. He remembered that County No. 2 Middle School's pilot restructuring under private contract management had ended in failure, but he had never investigated the actual reasons...

Now that his second uncle was getting involved, however, Qin An remained optimistic. Although the original private contract arrangement had ultimately failed, County No. 2 Middle School had risen miraculously. The three experimental classes that graduated in Qin An's year could rival those at County No. 1 Middle School, whose prestigious reputation had always stood unshaken. Qin An's own score, which exceeded Peking University's admission cutoff, had particularly given County No. 2 Middle School something to be proud of...

By the time Qin An and his father had expanded their own private school to encompass primary, junior high, and senior high education, with over five thousand students, County No. 2 Middle School's senior high division alone had nearly reached that number, becoming a formidable rival to County No. 1 Middle School and the many private schools...

"First comes funding... County No. 2 Middle School has more teachers than its staffing quota allows, and paying their salaries and benefits alone would take a considerable sum... Its enrollment area is too small right now. If you take over the contract, Second Uncle, you'll have to get the county Education Commission to lift that restriction. Otherwise, tuition from so few students and the income from running the cafeteria would hardly cover the teachers' salaries and benefits... Before the school actually turns a profit, you'll need enough money to keep it operating normally..." Seeing Qin Xiangshan nod, Qin An knew he had considered this problem too...

"But the most important question is whether the teachers will obstruct the restructuring... Qingshan Town isn't like the coast. People here will need some time to catch up with the mainstream thinking the country is promoting... You have to understand that having an iron rice bowl is still something many people dream of, and something they take great pride in... Teaching carries a certain social standing and commands considerable respect... They've always looked down on working for a private boss. To them, that's something people with no prospects do... If you become the owner of No. 2 Middle School, they'll become the hired hands they themselves scorn. I'm afraid they'll find that very hard to accept..." Qin An remembered now. In his memories, the ultimate reason County No. 2 Middle School's private contract arrangement had failed might have been resistance from the teachers. A teachers' strike shortly before the college entrance examination had caused a major disruption. Under pressure from parents, the school and the county Education Commission had been forced to accept the teachers' demands and halt the restructuring...

"Yes, that's a difficult problem to solve... It's precisely why I still haven't given Secretary Tang an answer or gone to the county to work my connections. It's a hornet's nest. If you aren't prepared, you'll end up with your head covered in stings..." Qin Xiangshan sighed. With his experience in coastal cities, he anticipated that inland regions would also place increasing importance on education, and that the education industry would continue expanding. Now was an excellent time to enter it, especially with a school like County No. 2 Middle School, which was becoming an increasing burden yet had a fairly good teaching staff. If he took it on and ran it well, it would be a golden hen that never stopped laying eggs...

"Second Uncle, you could try signing a labor dispatch agreement with the county Education Commission. The teachers' employment ties would remain within the education system... In other words, they'd be assigned by the county Education Commission to teach at No. 2 Middle School, rather than being your employees. Their salaries and benefits would still be paid through the education system, even though the money would ultimately come from you..." In fact, even in the late nineties, "layoffs" remained a taboo term. When many state-owned enterprises were acquired by private owners, they used precisely the approach Qin An had suggested. At this point, restructuring state-owned enterprises and collective public institutions was still a matter of trial and error, and this approach was only beginning to emerge, but it could quell most dissatisfaction and concerns and allow restructuring to proceed smoothly...

The county Education Commission only wanted to shed the enormous financial burden of No. 2 Middle School as quickly as possible. Presumably, it would be willing to try this approach too...