Discusses the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing remote access to campus computer networks and the Internet, focusing on improved service, cost-sharing, partnerships with vendors, supported protocols, bandwidth, scope of access, implementation, support, network security, and pricing. Includes a checklist for a request for proposals on…

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),…

Education researcher Gerald Bracey claims that the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) will result in privatization and educational vouchers because schools are expected to show regular gains in the proportion of students judged "proficient." (MLF)

Examines new forms of school organization that do not fit traditional definitions of public and private schools. Three case studies explore critical features of the public-private distinction, highlighting the fuzzy boundaries between schools that are clearly public and schools that are clearly private, and contending that their shared…

A survey of higher education in the Sultanate of Oman found management by several government entities, no tradition of charging fees or tuition, and supply of higher education inadequate to demand. Proposes a framework for a consolidated management system and market-oriented reforms. (EV)

Investigates the relationship between political preferences and the privatization of education in the United Kingdom. Finds that parents with children in school and individuals with higher tax liabilities favor privatization; those working in education oppose privatization. (Contains 5 tables and 29 references.)(PKP)

The General Agreement on Trade in Services gives priority to international commercial interests, and unless this trend is countered, public policy authority for education will shift to the World Trade Organization. While the Canadian government has stated that public education systems are not negotiable, the exclusion provisions it bases that…

Systemic reform efforts are being widely utilized as a tool in school improvement. In the next decade, math and science are becoming a focus for improvement, as are the issues of privatization and collaboration. Asks school business officials questions to reveal how dedicated to change they are. (KDP)

In October, a revised set of test scores showed that students in the eight Education Alternative, Inc. (EAI), schools in Baltimore, Maryland, had not performed as well as originally reported. Indicates that a contract with a for-profit company should specify how much test scores or attendance should improve each year and what the consequences are…

Summarizes school-choice developments in several states and outlines various choice categories (intradistrict, interdistrict, and controlled). Discusses privatization efforts, the effects of choice, and the role of parental involvement, competition and productivity, regulations, bureaucracies, educational finance, unions, and implications for…

The North Carolina General Assembly directed the State Building Commission to study the comparative costs of multi- and single-prime contracting and report the results to the 1995 General Assembly. Describes the analysis of data collected from governmental units that had awarded construction contracts. Identifies some alternative contracting…

Discusses problems of uncertainty and imperfect information that affect organizational choices for schools. Develops two models suggesting that schools, whether public or private, resemble each other while offering diverse curricula and outcomes. Considers the question of institutional choice by applying transaction cost economics to the options…

Introduces a series of articles about Canadian educational policy issues, comparing British and Canadian policymaking milieus during the 1980s. All the papers address wide-ranging attempts to reconstruct notions of commonness alongside concessions to, and celebrations of, linguistic and cultural plurality in an uncertain, postliberal world. This…

Considers current and potential uses of libraries as National Technical Information Service (NTIS) access points, describes the library community's strengths and weaknesses, and suggests future trends. A proposal for using libraries as vehicles for broader access for current and potential NTIS users is outlined. (Contains 32 references.) (EAM)

Hiring private contractors to manage school support services, such as food, maintenance, and busing, is a growing trend. Companies such as Marriott Corp., ServiceMaster, ARA Services, and Laidlaw Transit report that school business is steadily increasing. Unions staunchly oppose privatization. This article balances advantages and disadvantages,…