Education markets have spread worldwide over the past few decades. Frequently, the expansion of markets in education is presented by their promoters as a means to improve the opportunities of the most socioeconomically disadvantaged students. However, the evidence available shows that market-oriented policies that enhance competition and choice…

This article uses edvertising as a vehicle through which to examine autonomy and control for key agents in education when market-like reforms are combined with privately led management of schools. We begin by outlining the philosophical foundations of school choice from the perspective of autonomy and control, and then lay out the case of…

With its shift to a market economy gathering speed from the 1990s, the Chinese Government embarked on an agenda that brought neoliberal forces into almost all sectors including education. The policies underpinned China's spectacular economic growth, but in education have had consequences that arguably are problematic. Drawing on a mixed-methods…

This article focuses on the role of the state in the context of an increasing market orientation in Swedish education policy. It asks if and how a market orientation and privatisation can be reconciled with attempts to reestablish central output control. The controlling function of the state is emphasised in the form of efforts to inspect both…

This paper analyzes President Obama's education policies as they relate to charter schools. The authors first show how his policies continue previous neoconservative and neoliberal educational initiatives that marketize schooling. Arne Duncan's role in charter schools, both in his capacity as former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, and in his…

Whittle Communications, Inc. plans to launch a nationwide chain of private, for-profit schools and sell its proprietary educational products, instructional technology, and management services to school boards. Whittle schools will enroll children aged 3 months to 18 years, schedule hours coinciding with parents' working days, and operate…

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…

Philip Woods and Carl Bagley's "School Choice and Competition" (Routledge 1998) evaluates the viability of allowing parents to choose the school their children attend within a decentralized, market environment. Despite methodological shortcomings, the authors argue effectively for schools' resistance to "competitive" social…

The voucher "air war" is a conflict between two longstanding elements of the American political tradition: a time-honored commitment to maximum personal choice and individual freedom versus an equally compelling belief in need for a common civil infrastructure and communitarian interests. Will embracing vouchers further erode the public…

Contrary to critics' claims, the United States could not boast the world's finest higher-education system while maintaining a deficient public-school system. Unregulated, profit-oriented market models are inappropriate for public schools responsible for serving the social good. Privatization and techno-efficiency pressures are equally…