This paper examines the consequences of the new policies of school choice in post-apartheid South Africa and the reasons they have largely failed to achieve greater educational equality--their stated purpose. I argue that the dominant reason for this lies in the continuing inadequate resources of many poor schools and the failure to address them.…

In 1955, Milton Friedman authored a foundational paper proposing a shift in funding and governance mechanisms for public K-12 schools, suggesting that parents be awarded tuition vouchers that they could use to pay for private sector education services for their children, rather than relying on government provided neighborhood schools. Friedman…

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…

In this article, we examine the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) as an example of a unique node within larger policy networks composed of new policy entrepreneurs (e.g., venture philanthropists, think tanks, private "edubusinesses" and their lobbyists, advocacy organizations, and social entrepreneurs). These new policy…

The task of this article is to carry out a synthetic analysis of the concept of the "educational marketplace" as it is used in the popular discourse of education reform so as to unpack what has become a commonsensical idea in American politics. It is a conceptual framework that has opened an ever-expanding sovereign space in the American state for…

In this timely interdisciplinary volume, William Watkins has brought together leading scholars and activists to address some of the most urgent issues facing public education. What is underneath and behind the language of choice, efficiency, and improvement in current neoliberal discourse? How will urban and poor populations be affected? Will…

The contributors to this special issue of "The Journal of Inquiry and Action" provide insight into why the Obama administration's educational policies manifest the dominance of neoliberal ideology over most elements of social life. The articles presented in this issue build on the work originally presented in "The Phenomenon of…

This article examines equity in national systems of education in terms of differences in student outcomes, as measured by mathematics achievement scores on Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2003. The author uses four measures for assessing equity in student outcomes: (1) the strength of the relationship between student…

A National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) report addresses the questions "What have conservative foundations done with their grant dollars to promote concepts of privatizing public education through "school choice," primarily linked to school vouchers? What were their strategies in providing resources to an array of conservative…

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…

This book develops the notion that the only realistic solution to public schooling's current difficulties is to increase parental and student choice, deregulate schooling, and ultimately bring about the privatization of schools. The monograph demonstrates that public school systems fail because they ignore certain laws of human behavior, and…

This essay offers an analysis and critique of business involvement in public elementary and secondary education. An opening section suggests that of the initiatives launched in the past, many have been only cosmetic and based more on slogans and fads than on meaningful reform proposals. The essay goes on to suggest a more thorough identification…

Challenges the following assumptions: (1) parental choice will motivate schools to improve programs to compete more effectively for students; (2) private not-for-profit schools will respond to marketplace incentives; (3) research indicates an advantage of private over public organizations; (4) public choice theory promotes school improvement; and…