There is a robust debate about innovative ways to improve educational outcomes and governance in public schools located in the poorest townships in South Africa. This article looks at one recent innovation, a new model for providing basic education called 'collaboration schools', based on the British academy schools. We seek to understand what these partnerships between philanthropists, government, and parents entail, the specific problems the partners seek to address, the key actors involved, and the power relations that have emerged. Based on interviews with key local actors and a close reading of partnership agreements, the authors argue that although well-intentioned, the experts taking over schools have faced considerable resistance as well as deep structural challenges related to the social and economic decline in black townships. We also point to policy weaknesses linked to unsettled issues of class inequalities and apartheid spatial legacies.