This book describes how and why educational choice movements will affect public education. It uses a public-choice approach to argue that both the supporters and opponents of private and school choice have failed to address several critical issues. Following an introductory chapter, chapter 2 is devoted to the rationale for contracting out…

This document provides materials prepared for and discussed at a workshop to analyze the problems facing Central and Eastern European countries in the management of the vocational education and training (VET) system. Part I gives an outline of the major research findings and reflects the discussions of the workshop. "Management of Vocational…

The international communications section of the Proceedings contains the following 14 papers: "Spinning Stories: Latin America and the World Wide Web" (Eliza Tanner); "Private-Enterprise Broadcasting and Accelerating Dependency: Case Studies from Nigeria and Uganda" (Folu Folarin Ogundimu); "The Transitional Media System…

Contracting in public education is not a new development. This book examines projects that transfer the management of entire schools or school systems to private firms. Chapter 1, by Rima Shore, is a comprehensive survey of the practice of contracting out in public education. It provides a broad historical background for the U.S. education system…

This book has been designed to provide practical information to managers on how to work with outside contractors in the higher education facilities area, and provides "real world" advice on the opportunities and pitfalls of privatization. Overviews and detailed case studies of contracting-out for services such as custodial services and…

Parents have the legal right to send their children to private schools. This paper presents findings of a survey that compared the opinions of sitting school board presidents (n=1,500) with those of Chamber of Commerce executives (n=1,300) across the United States. The survey asked each group about their attitudes toward charter schools,…

This book proposes a new form of school governance based on contracting and family choice. Under the proposed plan, all public schools would operate under contracts that define each school's mission, its guarantee of public funding, and its grounds for accountability. The contracts would have two parties--the local school board and the individual…

Although making profits from public education is not new, what is new is the recent development of corporate interest in taking over the organization and management of public education specifically for profit-making purposes. The study reported in this paper focuses on the intrusion of "big business" into an educational arena that…

In 1996, Kansas launched the nation's most sweeping attempt to radically transform the child welfare system by implementing a privatized form of managed care. Four years later, the child welfare system shows signs of instability and seems very much in transition. This report examines the current status of the child welfare system in Kansas and…

This paper compares the development since the 1980s of privatization of education services in the U.S. and U.K. In both countries, education management organizations (EMOs) have become institutionalized to some degree, with policy-borrowing between the two countries and common ideological predisposition toward market solutions. Despite this…

This report addresses contemporary concerns about the competitive threat from for-profit educational institutions, contrasts national data on for-profits with national data on private non-profit and public post-secondary institutions, and examines case study data comparing a for-profit chain with three public community colleges located near…

This document addresses changes and trends in private higher education, with particular emphasis on Latin America. It focuses on specific issues facing private higher education, which has developed significantly worldwide. A variety of factors have brought private higher education to the forefront. There has been a shift in several countries from…

This digest reviews entrepreneurship activities among university and community college faculty and administrators, citing a number of studies that examine corporate-university linkages. These studies note that some faculty act as consultants to organizations, thus providing an avenue for personal interaction between industry and academe, or engage…

Research findings in England suggest that increased competition among schools, if combined with performance management, may enhance schools' efficiency. But, to prevent greater inequality in access to good quality state education, care must be taken with the regulations governing school admissions and the incentives for schools to admit and retain…

Although the driving philosophy underpinning British educational reform since 1988 has emphasized "quality" and "choice," few governmental pronouncements have addressed equity issues. This article defines "equity," focusing on distributional equity as a framework for examining reforms such as formula funding,…