The Umbridge School District's hot lunch program was hemorrhaging red ink. Each year, the school district poured more money down the sinkhole. At the same time, parents complained about the quality of the school lunches. The food services director always had excuses and nothing really changed. When no headway was evident, the superintendent said…

In the late 1990s, Fulton County Schools in Atlanta were looking at average enrollment growth of more than 2,500 students a year and a new source of significant revenue to drive its capital improvement program. With funding from Georgia's new special purpose local option sales tax, or SPLOST, for school capital needs, total revenue from the…

The Lower Pioneer Valley Educational Collaborative, organized in 1974, consists of seven school districts legally bound in a governance structure. Although the member districts are located in Hampden County, Massachusetts, the collaborative provides educational programs and services to school districts and municipalities throughout western…

It is such a simple mandate: Prepare healthy, nutritious meals for the schoolchildren so they can go about the business of learning. But operating a school district food service department is anything but simple. Even in the smallest districts, food service operations are businesses that must comply with many more rules than those in the private…

Companies such as ARA Services provide lunch every day to more than 1 million students in over 280 school districts nationwide. An Illinois superintendent lists several reasons for school districts to consider "outsourcing" their food-service operations, including cost-saving opportunities, capacity for offering comprehensive services…

The Cobb County (Georgia) School District, which transports 61,000 students to 88 schools on 763 buses daily, avidly studied privatization possibilities. Since the bus fleet is relatively new and drivers' wages compare favorably with metropolitan Atlanta's, the district concluded it could transport students better and more cheaply. A sidebar lists…

In this article, the author analyzes public education, and whether America can survive without it. There is a deep sense in which the phrase "public education" is redundant: Education is public, above all in a democracy. To think of it any other way is to rob it of its essential meaning. For education is an essential public good addressed to young…

As one Maryland district's experience shows, a district-operated food-and-nutrition service is capable of meeting student demands while maintaining a fiscally, administratively, and nutritionally sound program. Districts should first evaluate their food programs as to student satisfaction, financial health, performance and cost/savings incentives,…

The entrepreneur behind the Edison Project and Channel One shares his observations about the unfairness of public school critics, the "tyranny" of operational demands, and the promise of national school companies for underemployed teachers and research and development ventures. Praising public schools for being receptive to new concepts,…

Charter schools can be grouped into two camps: newly created schools or converted public schools (deserving further study). New charters arise to help at-risk kids, serve poor ethnic minorities, make profits, or address disgruntled parents' concerns. For-profits are leery of contracting to improve student performance. (MLH)

Although charter schools are both public and accountable, they are increasingly being operated by private, for-profit educational management organizations. EMOs profit by reducing labor costs (cutting employment or compensation), using economies of scale (operating larger facilities); and providing fewer services (educating "mainstream"…

About 1,500 schools nationwide pay an estimated $200 million in federal funds to private enterprises claiming to provide better literacy instruction than the disappointing Title I results of the past 34 years. Programs run by Kaplan Inc., Success for All Foundation, Sylvan Learning Systems, and Reading Recovery Council are described. (MLH)

A Minneapolis superintendent presents diary excerpts of his three-year experience and dispels myths about improving education. He argues the futility of believing that more, less, or private is better; that educators are nincompoops; or that money talks. Transforming education requires core goals, customer support, consequences (accountability),…

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.…

Despite greater job pressures, school system leaders can find their shining moments in advocating for children and their learning. As visionary leaders, superintendents must confront four challenges: local and state school-governance complexities, school funding for teachers and facilities, accountability for student performance, and…