Educators nationwide focused on Philadelphia in the summer of 2001 as politicians and policy makers explored the possibility of a state takeover of the city's school system, a seismic power shift that would produce the largest privatization of a public school district in American history. The findings reported in this document are based on…

An open letter after September 11, 2001, reflects on education's role in promoting tolerance and peace. Further discussion focuses on liberal versus neoliberal ideology; the expansion and democratization of public education in the 20th century, guided by liberal public policy concerning the state's responsibility for social welfare and the public…

"New Times"--a term recognizing recent qualitative, incremental changes in the world--present an opportunity for community education to become more central to the debate about education, the social order, and social change. The fundamental challenge is forging the politics of cultures into a coherent political culture. (SK)

Experiences of a Michigan school district provide a case study for examining the political, economic, and community-relations issues embedded in a decision to privatize. Support can be achieved only if all parties feel they were given adequate attention during deliberations on the issue. (MLF)

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"…

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)

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…

U.S. Roman Catholic schools, noted for their history of academic success and worried about rising costs and declining enrollment, have launched a nationwide marketing campaign called "Discover Catholic Schools 1992." Expenses are up because religious order membership is down. The campaign coincides with President Bush's promotion of privatization…

A growing number of private companies have emerged with the mission of providing educational services to public schools and districts. Partnerships between public schools and service companies, though not novel, only recently have become high-profile and prolific. Although welcomed by educational reformers, partnerships that involve outsourcing of…

This paper discusses privatization of public higher education, noting that some form of it exists on almost every college campus and that it is part of the wider movement toward less government. Four models of privatization are defined: public production with public finance; public production with private finance; private production with public…

The 1996 Phi Delta Kappan/Gallup Poll found that people oppose using tax money to support nonpublic schools and reject privatization of schools' basic instructional functions. People generally rate their local schools highly, believe educational improvement is more important than deficit reduction, and believe the Democratic Party is more…

Problems in the financing of higher education in India, particularly in the large proportion of costs borne by the government, are examined. Several policy proposals to remedy the problems, including privatization, are critically reviewed. It is concluded that there is a need for experimentation with a number of alternatives. (MSE)

Calls for the continued privatization of public schools and the application of business solutions to school management problems are nothing new. Successful small-scale experiments at privatization will continue to have an incremental effect on educational reform. Even failed experiments offer opportunities about how to manage public education.…

Examines Hartford, Connecticut's experiment with contracting out the entire management of its 32 schools. Data analysis involved examining relevant documents, and interviewing key school officials, the staff of the private school-management agency, and community representatives. The experiment met with considerable opposition and eventually…

This article explores how gender is threaded through the expansion and privatization of higher education in Jordan. Due to the justified current concern with the educational deficit of Muslim girls, it is easy to overlook the educational advances made by girls in some Islamic countries. In Jordan, girls have profited more than boys from the…