The privatizing agenda of corporate globalization is being abetted by such institutions as the World Bank. Educators are being told to accept its inevitability. However, adult educators can assert alternative values and help build a healthy civic society. (SK)

The author initially describes several seminal and interconnected departures from the old social order which are currently happening and which are creating a new and indeed unprecedented setting for the educational process, thereby raising a series of never-before-encountered challenges for the educators. He then details how society is being…

The Detroit Public Schools (DPS) have been battered by substantial outside forces over the last decade. The school system was taken over by the state; its elected school board was dissolved and replaced by an appointed body; its many operating systems were privatized; its citizenry were encouraged to flee to charter schools; and its resources have…

The presentation looks at the latest statistics on participation in Higher Education, to question whether privatisation of systems has significant effects on participation, affordability and equity of Higher Education. It further looks into questions of autonomy and governance of Higher Education systems in private and public systems, and finally…

Privatization of school support services is a time-tested means for lowering educational costs. The three major services that school districts in Michigan contract out for are food, custodial and transportation. The Mackinac Center for Public Policy's survey of privatization is the longest running and most comprehensive source of school support…

This paper explores the rising presence of transnational corporations (TNCs) in education and their mobilisation of global corporate social discourses to legitimise their private authority in education. The rising presence of TNCs is explored in the paper in two parts. First, through a taxonomy of global corporate social engagement (GCSE)…

The present reconfiguration of education by neo-liberal forces worldwide is taken as a basis for this essay. Drawing on examples of how this reconfiguration operates on national arenas through decisive and dishonest discourses of commoditisation and privatisation, management and efficiency, education for all and student-centred education, the…

In this essay, the author suggests that worldwide disasters are providing the means for business to accumulate profit. From the Asian tsunami of 2005 that allowed corporations to seize coveted shoreline properties for resort development to the multi-billion dollar no-bid reconstruction contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan, from the privatization of…

The National Education Association (NEA) Handbook is published annually for use by Association officers, national and state staff, members, and other interested leaders in the field of education. The Association's key governance documents--including the Constitution, Bylaws, and Rules, and the Legislative Program, resolutions, policy statements,…

The development of a national youth work training package in Australia began over 15 years ago. The current package sits under the umbrella of the general Community Services Industry Training Package. The first stage of a review of this package has been completed and the subsequent report not only confirms the recent trend towards the…

The House of Representatives requested that the Health, Education, and Human Services Division (HEHS) examine privatization of child support enforcement programs in the United States. HEHS was to determine: (1) advantages and disadvantages of privatization, and the extent of these programs currently; (2) terms of contracts; (3) legalities of…

This collection of essays builds a case against those who see children as customers or workers and those who want to turn learning into a business. Following an introduction, The 500-Pound Gorilla by Alfie Kohn, section 1, Commercialism in Schools, contains: (1) Buy Me! Buy Me! (Alex Molnar and Joseph A. Reaves); (2) Commercialism in U.S. Schools…

The National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) are among the most powerful interest groups in the nation, affecting the way public policy is made. They are the primary political opponents of all forms of privatization, and overwhelmingly support Democrat candidates for public office. Chapter 1 is an…

This paper presents findings from a case study of a single charter school operated by Edison Schools, Inc. (The particular school remains anonymous.) The study, grounded on the assumption that privatization improves efficiency, was done to document the relationship between the theory and practice of school privatization. The study relied on…

This book explores the connections between infrastructure reform and poverty alleviation in Latin America based on a detailed analysis of the effects of a decade of reforms. The book demonstrates that because the access to, and affordability of, basic services is still a major problem, infrastructure investment will be a core component of poverty…