There has been a dramatic growth in private higher education in Brazil in recent years. The World Bank has promoted this expansion on the basis of the private providers' ability to ensure a rapid increase in enrolment, to improve quality through competition between institutions and to bring benefits for society at little public cost. However, the…

More than one billion people do not have access to an adequate water supply. In Gambia and Haiti, people live on less than 4 liters of water per day. By contrast, most toilets in the West use several times that amount of water for a single flush. The global distribution of water is making it increasingly difficult for poor people to access it, and…

For some, it seems that the dream of a perfect research machine is almost within reach. Google announced late last year that it would digitize millions of bound books, making available online the full text of public-domain books and excerpts from works still in copyright. Thrilling and dazzling as the potential for research and distribution…

While economic capital is not synonymous with cultural, social or symbolic capital in either its constitutional or organizational form, it nevertheless remains the more flexible and convertible form of capital. The convertibility of economic capital has particular resonance within "Celtic Tiger" Ireland. The states reluctance to fully…

One of the salient concerns in contemporary higher education internationally is access, which is rapidly expanding. Another salient trend is the rapid expansion of private higher education. These two salient tendencies have not been treated in scholarship as heavily intertwined. Much of the reason is that many people associate "private"…

The management of school systems by for-profit private contractors is one alternative method of school reform. This document describes some private-management plans and examines some of the central issues. The arrangements between public school systems and three private contractors of education are described--Education Alternatives, Inc. (EAI),…

Since the state takeover, the Philadelphia school district has created a new governance model, in which for-profits, non-profits, and universities receive contracts to manage schools. Further, these and other organizations also receive contracts to provide a range of additional services. The shift to a public/private institutional structure,…

Utility services (telecommunications, power, water, and gas) throughout the world were traditionally provided by large, usually state-owned, monopolies. However, encouraged by technological change, regulatory innovation, and pressure from international organizations, many developing countries are privatizing state-owned companies and introducing…

Describes access to Canadian government information and compares it to the U.S. depository library system. Topics include the Canadian Depository Service Program, privatization, electronic publications, departmental autonomy, cost recovery for information, government policies, and future possibilities. (LRW)

Both Educational Alternatives Inc. and Baltimore City Schools learned some hard lessons about contracting for educational services and funding politics. Administrators should anticipate conflict; secure community support; establish specific educational objectives, project milestones, funding-linked accountability mechanisms, and a time-frame;…

An Ohio superintendent's need to contain administrative costs, replace aging buses, and improve his district's financial health prompted consideration of contracting for student transportation. After 2 years of contracting out, students are safer, a $215,000 savings has been realized, the bus drivers (former district employees) are happier, and…

A Texas elementary school is testing Edison's claim that a private company can manage a public school better and more profitably than a public school district working alone. Educators and parents already see improvements, but overenrollment has caused class size, scheduling, and computer shortage problems. Competition and payment problems could…

Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, is the site of conflict between the teacher union and the school board. The board has hired Alternative Public Schools, Inc. to manage Turner Elementary School and has given the company permission to hire a new staff at Turner. State legislation may kill the union's court case. (MLF)

Discusses the fall of communism in eastern Europe. Applies Latin America models to eastern Europe. Suggests that revolutions are shaped by the systems against which they are directed. Concludes that the problems of eastern Europe are not caused by the system so much as by geography. Argues that poor capitalism may lie in the future for eastern…

Explores inherent tensions between the substance of school board reform and the ideology of governance reform. New Orleans's unique culture of privatization has historically constrained grass-roots involvement in educational reform. A recent exception is a highly motivated, parent-based Education Issues Committee that successfully overhauled the…