Investigates the relationship between political preferences and the privatization of education in the United Kingdom. Finds that parents with children in school and individuals with higher tax liabilities favor privatization; those working in education oppose privatization. (Contains 5 tables and 29 references.)(PKP)

The General Agreement on Trade in Services gives priority to international commercial interests, and unless this trend is countered, public policy authority for education will shift to the World Trade Organization. While the Canadian government has stated that public education systems are not negotiable, the exclusion provisions it bases that…

Systemic reform efforts are being widely utilized as a tool in school improvement. In the next decade, math and science are becoming a focus for improvement, as are the issues of privatization and collaboration. Asks school business officials questions to reveal how dedicated to change they are. (KDP)

In October, a revised set of test scores showed that students in the eight Education Alternative, Inc. (EAI), schools in Baltimore, Maryland, had not performed as well as originally reported. Indicates that a contract with a for-profit company should specify how much test scores or attendance should improve each year and what the consequences are…

Summarizes school-choice developments in several states and outlines various choice categories (intradistrict, interdistrict, and controlled). Discusses privatization efforts, the effects of choice, and the role of parental involvement, competition and productivity, regulations, bureaucracies, educational finance, unions, and implications for…

The North Carolina General Assembly directed the State Building Commission to study the comparative costs of multi- and single-prime contracting and report the results to the 1995 General Assembly. Describes the analysis of data collected from governmental units that had awarded construction contracts. Identifies some alternative contracting…

Discusses problems of uncertainty and imperfect information that affect organizational choices for schools. Develops two models suggesting that schools, whether public or private, resemble each other while offering diverse curricula and outcomes. Considers the question of institutional choice by applying transaction cost economics to the options…

Introduces a series of articles about Canadian educational policy issues, comparing British and Canadian policymaking milieus during the 1980s. All the papers address wide-ranging attempts to reconstruct notions of commonness alongside concessions to, and celebrations of, linguistic and cultural plurality in an uncertain, postliberal world. This…

Considers current and potential uses of libraries as National Technical Information Service (NTIS) access points, describes the library community's strengths and weaknesses, and suggests future trends. A proposal for using libraries as vehicles for broader access for current and potential NTIS users is outlined. (Contains 32 references.) (EAM)

Hiring private contractors to manage school support services, such as food, maintenance, and busing, is a growing trend. Companies such as Marriott Corp., ServiceMaster, ARA Services, and Laidlaw Transit report that school business is steadily increasing. Unions staunchly oppose privatization. This article balances advantages and disadvantages,…

A comparison of two Tennessee school districts revealed that the district with in-house pupil transportation spent less than the district that contracted for the service. A sidebar discusses the characteristics of small vs. large contractors for school buses. (MLF)

Discusses the state of the Soviet economy during the period of perestroika. Includes the level of output, rate of inflation, privatization, and proposals for economic reform. Assesses the stabilization program and possibilities of restructuring. Concludes that neither Mikhail Gorbachev nor perestroika are likely to survive the trials of inflation,…

To prepare information-literate citizens, teachers should (1) shift focus from product to process; (2) recognize and accommodate diverse styles of learning information; (3) integrate information seeking into learner-based curriculum; and (4) help students understand the view of information as a commodity and the issues surrounding access. (SK)

The Milwaukee Parental Choice Plan permits up to 1,000 low-income Milwaukee students to attend private, nonsectarian schools, paying participating schools about $2,500 for each participant. However, handicapped students received scant accommodation, and educational standards applying to public schools are not required of private schools.…

Three companies (Voyager Expanded Learning, Mindsurf, and EXPLORE) have introduced after-school programs that emphasize stress-free academic enrichment activities. The companies differ, but share a fun-learning concept, maintain low staff-child ratios of about 1:8, and serve grades K-8. The operative words are flexibility and affordability. Some…