From April 25 through June 30, 2007, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy conducted its fifth survey of the privatization of bus, food and janitorial services among Michigan's 552 conventional public school districts. All Michigan school districts responded. In 2007, the Mackinac Center also conducted a nationwide survey of state education…

The Chicago Public Schools, along with the city of Chicago itself, serve as an exemplary case of neoliberal reorganization, as corporate and governmental "leaders" remake Chicago into a global city meeting the needs of capitalism. As such, Chicago provides us with an example of "actually existing neoliberalism," in which…

In this article the author looks at the impact NCLB is having on teacher education programs, focusing on three major areas: who is entering teacher preparation programs; the experience they have while they are in those programs; and the experience they have while in the schools as student teachers. The increased focus on testing to determine who…

Substantial policy and political changes have resulted from a 2001 state takeover of the Philadelphia School District and the subsequent hiring of Paul Vallas as the district's new CEO. Using the lens of urban regime analysis, which emphasizes the importance of public and private actors in forming a governing coalition, this article analyzes the…

This book examines three major school-reform movements in the United States that were shaped by outside societal forces and identifies their common characteristics. The first two chapters examine the history and influence of the progressive movement and chapter 3 is devoted to progressive education's chief philosopher and pragmatist, John Dewey.…

This book discusses the controversy over the extent to which a nation's government has the right to determine the nature of the educational system, and the limits on that right. In Great Britain, the government has established a series of Education Acts and a National Curriculum. The concepts of accountability and cost effectiveness are commonly…

The New American Schools Development Corporation (NASDC) was established in 1991 to fund the development of organizations that would create designs for innovative schools and help schools implement those designs. The plan deliberately develops expert organizations to help whole schools transform themselves. This handbook summarizes RAND's…

Outsourcing in higher education refers to the practice of contracting with private, off-campus firms to provide or manage services which have historically been provided in-house. Budget cutbacks and declining private support have led to increased use of outsourcing for non-mission-critical and non-instructional services, such as information…

This paper examines the emergence of privatization in Israel's educational system. The first part provides an overview of the provision of educational services in a welfare state. The second part describes educational privatization in a welfare state, and the third part presents examples of two forms of privatization that have emerged in the…

In June 1995, the Idaho Joint Legislative Oversight Committee directed the Office of Performance Evaluations to conduct an evaluation of school district pupil transportation. This report, the last in a series of four, examines the apparent cost difference between district-operated transportation programs and those that are contracted to…

Considering the nature of education, the author holds that the fundamental function of education is to serve the customers, with relation to the internationalization of higher education in China. This paper illustrates the inevitability of development and the relative differences, by the discussion of benefit or non-benefit orientation of China's…

Asserting that as Georgia moves into the 21st century, its public education sector must examine alternative means of utilizing and sharing buildings and facilities, this paper explores the alternatives to relying on taxes alone to meet the ever-increasing needs for additional and improved school buildings, as well as ways to reduce the need for…

This paper focuses on the role of the World Bank and its subsidiaries in promoting the neoliberal educational reforms of privatization and decentralization globally and in El Salvador. Neoliberalism is first defined as a sociopolitical philosophy that supports concepts such as the free market, market-driven education, and the use of a voucher…

Educational Research Information Center (ERIC) Trends are analyses of higher education literature contained in the ERIC database, describing major concerns in institutional practice. A large percentage of the literature from 1999-2000 on administration describes the common themes of presidential leadership, leadership/management styles,…

The articles in this book examine educational privatization in Eastern Europe. The essays represent a variety of perspectives on education systems in various stages of evolution. The chapters are divided into three groups. The first three chapters discuss educational change and the privatization movement in the Baltic republics of Lithuania,…