The economic purpose of getting a job, or getting into college in order to get a better job, has evolved into the de facto primary purpose of K-12 (and higher) education. Business model solutions are seen by businessmen as the answer to education problems. But the business models they advocate and help fund are not a good fit for education problems. There is an alternative that would serve us better: the civic standard. By shifting the emphasis to the critical thinking and empathetic citizens necessary to make our democracy work, the civic standard will also produce the kind of graduates that employers need in the 21st century.