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,…

A comparison of two Tennessee school districts revealed that the district with in-house pupil transportation spent less than the district that contracted for the service. A sidebar discusses the characteristics of small vs. large contractors for school buses. (MLF)

Discusses the state of the Soviet economy during the period of perestroika. Includes the level of output, rate of inflation, privatization, and proposals for economic reform. Assesses the stabilization program and possibilities of restructuring. Concludes that neither Mikhail Gorbachev nor perestroika are likely to survive the trials of inflation,…

To prepare information-literate citizens, teachers should (1) shift focus from product to process; (2) recognize and accommodate diverse styles of learning information; (3) integrate information seeking into learner-based curriculum; and (4) help students understand the view of information as a commodity and the issues surrounding access. (SK)

The Milwaukee Parental Choice Plan permits up to 1,000 low-income Milwaukee students to attend private, nonsectarian schools, paying participating schools about $2,500 for each participant. However, handicapped students received scant accommodation, and educational standards applying to public schools are not required of private schools.…

Three companies (Voyager Expanded Learning, Mindsurf, and EXPLORE) have introduced after-school programs that emphasize stress-free academic enrichment activities. The companies differ, but share a fun-learning concept, maintain low staff-child ratios of about 1:8, and serve grades K-8. The operative words are flexibility and affordability. Some…

Four key reasons underlie the push for teacher union solidarity in 1998: desire to fulfill Al Shanker's dream of a unified mission, to end union competition, to bolster Democratic Party weaknesses, and to stop privatization. The NEA/AFT merger failed because of conflicting organizational cultures and teachers' gradualist, localist, and…

Public employee unions, especially the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers, are the main political opposition to contracting out by school boards. This paper notes school boards have nowhere to turn for help in maintaining their freedom to contract out and discusses disturbing aspects of the unions' opposition to…

Two systems of metaphors (laissez-faire and communitarian) have set the parameters governing the educational choice debate. Choice proponents argue that markets will make schools more efficient and egalitarian; critics view privatization as fragmenting the body politic. When institutional racism is factored in, privatization appears to further…

During the early 1970s, over 150 school districts and several states contracted with private companies to deliver instruction, and the Nixon Administration initiated a vast privatization field experiment in Texarkana. None of these performance contracting experiments significantly improved instruction. Instead, they raised issues of staffing,…

Discusses whether the alternatives to traditional education that were promoted in the past decade have lived up to their promise of creating a school environment that is conducive to learning for all students, focusing on magnet schools, educational vouchers, privatization and charter schools, and home schooling. (SM)

Discusses the pros and cons of privatization as a way of saving money while improving non-educational operations. Questions about why some services should be kept in-house are addressed, as well as what to look for when considering outsourcing. One school's experience with outsourcing health-care services is highlighted. (GR)

Discusses several market-driven school-choice programs: intradistrict choice, interdistrict choice, privatization, and vouchers. Because of the limited and often contradictory research on the effect of alternative choice programs on student achievement, more research is needed to determine their long-term effect. (PKP)

This article focuses on the extent to which the legislative framework and education-funding models applicable to school education in South Africa post-1994 have, in attempting to address historical inequalities, resulted in a particular form of privatisation of public education. The article sets out the extent of the autonomy available to all…