The importance of private schools in Argentina is in contrast with the little attention they have been given in research on the country's education system. This paper has two aims: (1) to provide a brief summary of the outstanding milestones of educational privatization in Argentina; and (2) to review some of the most significant features of the demand and supply of private education. First, a quantitative description of the private-education sector and the relevant policies over the last 50 years is given. Second, the two issues that concern the state and private schools at a local level--public funding of private establishments and the functional regulations--are analyzed. Finally, the private-education sector is analyzed using the four criteria of freedom of choice, efficiency, equity, and social cohesion. This study shows that after a little more than half a century since its initiation, the state subsidy system for the private-education sector seems to have proved quite effective in terms of the growing participation of private schools in supplying education. Challenges still exist for the state and local private educational sector to resolve in achieving equal educational access, and equity and efficiency in resource allocation. (Contains 11 references, 4 tables, and 1 figure.) (RT)