An independent study of Baltimore City's Tesseract schools analyzes why the privately managed program failed. Results showed no gains on Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills scores. Baltimore was paying about 11% more per student than in comparison schools. EAI has succeeded in establishing the supremacy of Wednesday afternoons for staff development…

Reviews several privatization strategies and their applications to public education, including load-shedding, asset sales, volunteerism, self-help, user fees, contracting, franchises, vouchers, subsidies, and deregulation. The major forces promoting privatization in education are those stemming from growing discontent with the public sector and…

Addresses the corrosive effects of corporate culture on the academy and society, arguing that neoliberal discourses of privatization and commercialization reduce citizenship to self-interest. Maintains that corporate culture ignores social injustices while emphasizing unfettered market forces, threatening understanding of democracy and the meaning…

Public-sector management teams and their counterpart labor unions are faced with an ever-increasing myriad of challenges in the quest to produce collective bargaining agreements. Shrinking tax bases, declining levels of federal and state assistance, and public demands for downsizing and privatization are all factors that suggest that financial…

Discusses three worldwide policy trends--privatization, revitalization, and decentralization--and their impact on economic development and extension education. (SK)

Describes how the University of Virginia is beginning to fall apart, while the recently completed Darden Graduate School of Business Administration is moving toward self-sufficiency and is the sign of things to come in the privatization of public higher education. In its eagerness to enter the top ranks of business schools, Darden has made the…

Summary of the "Fifth Annual Report of Trends in Schoolhouse Commercialism" prepared by the Educational Policy Studies Laboratory's Commercialism in Education Research Unit at Arizona State University (www.schoolcommercialism.org). Includes discussion of program and activity sponsorships, exclusive agreements, incentive programs,…

Considers various aspects of the future of technology in education, including learning through apprenticeship, equitable access to learning technology, business and industry needs and the relationship between workplace performance and academic credentials, and the commercial privatization of public education. (LRW)

Reports on the results of a study undertaken in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts in 1992 of the use of contracting arrangements in children's services. Highlights the positive and negative aspects of contracting for both contractors and providers, and discusses the impact of this approach for the traditional differentiation between nongovernmental…

Privatization of schools would abandon the nation's commitment to educational equity. Pluralism, educational excellence, and democratic governance are all at stake. A real reform and restructuring of public schools from the bottom up is underway, fundamentally questioning traditional assumptions about schooling. (SK)

Several superintendents have recently left school administration for careers in private education companies such as Education Alternatives, Inc., the Edison Project, and Sylvan Learning Systems, Inc. Former superintendents from New York, Rochester, Saint Paul, and Detroit reflect on their reasons for switching careers. Salary considerations…

According to the 26th annual Phi Delta Kappan/Gallup Poll, the growth of fighting/violence/gangs and poor discipline are the most serious problems facing today's schools. Parents rate their community schools highly but assign only passing grades to the nation's schools. Most favor character education and President Clinton's education initiatives…

Schools' increasing reliance on partnerships and donated goods and services may lead to program delivery differences. Policymakers must consider possible "costs" of partnerships, such as diminished revenue from traditional sources, altered decision making, and detriments to equity pursuits, when structuring schools' future. Community…

Discusses policy decisions that led to the privatization and commercialization of NSFnet; explains the roles of IBM, MCI Communications, and ANS (Advanced Network and Service); and suggests the role that the federal government should take to ensure that the NREN (National Research and Education Network) addresses issues of public access and…

Describes how Kiwanis club members in Leesburg, Virginia, organized a successful trip to two Lithuanian communities without government support. U.S. visitors spoke to Lithuanians about the role of small businesses and civic clubs in the United States. Possible outcomes of the trip include continuing connections between businesses and between…