The past two decades have marked tremendous growth in the number of public schools that are privately operated and, in a growing number of cases, also privately owned. Known as education management organizations (EMOs), these are private companies or organizations that are rapidly expanding their market shares of the public education sector,…

While past annual "Profiles" reports have focused on either for-profit EMOs (education management organizations) or nonprofit EMOs, this is the first annual "Profiles" report to cover both categories in a single report which allows for easier comparisons. The 2010-2011 school year marked another year of relatively slow growth in the for-profit…

This research brief details some of the prominent ways that individuals, companies, and organizations secure financial gain and generate profit by controlling and running charter schools. To illustrate how charter school policy functions to promote privatization and profiteering, the authors explore differences between charter schools and…

This is the third Profiles report to examine nonprofit education management organizations (EMOs). This report is modeled after the 12 annual reports that cover for-profit EMOs. While the number of schools operated by for-profit EMOs grew rapidly in the 1990s and is now leveling off, the data contained in this report illustrate how the number of…

The 2009-2010 school year marked another year of relatively slow growth in the for-profit education management industry. The greatest increase in profiled companies occurred in the category of small EMOs (education management organizations) (i.e., EMOs that manage three or fewer schools). The authors believe their key finding from the 2007-2008…

Education management organizations, or EMOs, emerged in the early 1990s in the context of widespread interest in so-called market-based school reform proposals. Wall Street analysts coined the term EMO as an analogue to health maintenance organizations (HMOs). Proponents of EMOs claim that they bring a much needed dose of entrepreneurial spirit…

This book contains evidence about charter schools that can provide important data on evaluating this new public-private hybrid and its success at serving the core purpose of public education. The book focuses on charter schools in Michigan, which is regarded as having one of the most permissive charter laws in the country. The first three chapters…

This is the final report of a one-year evaluation of the Michigan Public School Academy (PSA) initiative. The evaluation involved both formative and summative evaluations and used both qualitative and quantitative methods. The study was conducted between October 1997 and December 1998. Data-collection methods included a charter-school survey and a…

In response to stagnating economic conditions, the Swedish government introduced numerous "reforms," including a voucher scheme for approved independent schools. Since 1992, enrollments in independent schools have increased only 1%, segregation and interschool disparities have increased, and supports for special-needs children have…