Issues surrounding parental decisions to privatize their children's education are examined in this paper, which focuses on three issues: (1) the declining credibility of state-sponsored education; (2) the nature and causes of privatized education as a viable alternative; and (3) the context in which this option occurs. The first section discusses…

Canada has become a multiracial, multireligious, and multicultural society, but non-whites, the "visible minorities (VMs)," face pay and employment discrimination in both the public and the private sector. Lack of statistical data by race and by region about job segregation, income levels, and promotions make it difficult to determine…

In accordance with a Legislative Budget and Audit Committee special request and the provisions of Title 24 of the Alaska Statutes, a review was conducted of the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education's experience with various collection contractors used to collect defaulted student loans. The primary purpose was to assess the success that…

Spectacular contemporary growth in private higher education challenges the "new institutionalism" and its emphasis on "isomorphism." The growth brings great inter-organizational distinctiveness and is linked to technically rational competition. Findings about this growth and distinctiveness lead us to re-assess and revise…

This paper examines accountability in public and private schools. It discusses the considerable authority the state has to regulate all schools, whether public or private, and focuses on how state constitutions constrain the states' ability to delegate to private actors the responsibility and funding for public education without accompanying…

This book examines the economics, history, and politics of education, asserting that public schools should be privatized. It suggests that privatized public schools can benefit from competition, market discipline, and the incentives essential to producing cost-effective, quality education and attracting additional funding and expertise needed to…

Education reform has a long and ignoble history of searching for magic bullets. Charter schools, vouchers, educational management organizations, tuition tax credits, and high-standards movements are all part of the education landscape today. Some reformers are mere opportunists who look at the $700 billion that the United States spends on…

In Latin America private universities are a recent phenomenon; Uruguay began its experiment with privatization only 15 years ago. This study explores several factors which have impeded formation of private universities by analyzing the "failures" of three institutions. The theoretical framework of the study is based on work by D.C. Levy…

Sweden's newly deregulated university system, characterized by increased privatization and performance-based funding, is compared with a model of "responsive regulation" characterized by a cooperative regulatory relationship. Developments and actions during the first few years of reform are also analyzed in this context. Suggestions for…

The view that competition initiatives in education, such as Chile's introduction of vouchers, promote socioeconomic segregation in schools is questioned. Chile and Argentina have faced very different decentralization reforms, carried out within different regulatory frameworks, but have arrived at similar situations in terms of schools'…

As Internet 2 takes shape, the university administrators and researchers behind it are taking care to address the political and economic challenges experienced by the original Internet. The new, privatized system will be faster and more powerful, but some fear privatization has shifted the balance of power toward profit-making instead of meeting…

A critical issue is restoring education's central role--preparing people to live in a democracy, not a "government-industrial complex." Education should not be a training ground for business and industry. Common schools should be championed, not demeaned. Choice and charter school options must be more objectively evaluated. Better…

School business officials from 10 large urban school districts express their concerns about school size, deteriorating buildings, lack of parental involvement and parenting skills, obsolete business systems, loss of public support, retrofitting for technology, privatization, and low-bid construction results. Violent behavior and criminal incidents…

Outsourcing has been proposed as a method for improving effectiveness and productivity in Australian public library service. Developments, drawbacks, and potentials are discussed, and differences between contracting out whole services as opposed to selected activities are examined. (AEF)

Nonpublic school educational choice proposals are largely derived from monetarist economic and social theory and exemplify right-wing privatization goals. The U.S. health care system has plenty of competition among insurers, hospitals, and doctors; but it is the most expensive, least equitable system in the industrial world. The mystical belief…