Pennsylvania's public schools employ tens of thousands of support professionals -- bus drivers, cafeteria workers, custodians, maintenance workers, secretaries, paraprofessionals, and others. Due to fiscal challenges that many local districts face, school administrators often look to achieve savings and flexibility by outsourcing the provision of public services by education support staff. Research shows that there are significant downsides in some cases to outsourcing by state and local government, including lower quality services and increases in costs. Moreover, when outsourcing lowers quality or raises costs, changing the contractor or bringing work back in house may have upfront and transition costs. These costs can lock school districts into unfavorable outsourcing arrangements for the long term. This potential reinforces how important it is to get decisions to outsource or keep work in house right in the first place. Providing additional transparency when school districts consider outsourcing, and an escape route if savings do not result, can reduce the number of cases in which districts regret outsourcing because it increases taxpayer costs, compromises the quality of educational support services, or undercuts the quality of jobs for members of the local community. This brief summarizes research and public opinion polling that make the case for transparency and safeguards against counterproductive outsourcing provided by the Senate and House bills.