Moving toward privatized education

The problem with privatizing public school services is one on which the verdict is not fully in yet. As Philadelphia was the first to attempt a large scale privatization, which began in 2002 with the privatization of over 30 schools, not a lot of research has been accumulated regarding the plan's successes and shortcomings. However, interesting to note is the fact that in June, 2008, the committee which heads Philadelphia's schools decided to retake control of six of the schools which had been put under private control. It had been noted that students had, in fact, improved academically, but no more so than the public schools which had remained under district supervision. Furthermore, the remaining schools still under private contract were warned that they had one year to show marked improvement, or they too, would be reabsorbed into the care of the district (Washington Post). Jeff Henig, professor of political science and education at Columbia University, notes another frightening fact with regards to how development is studied in privatized schools. He notes a common occurrence: the studies carried out to determine the effectiveness of privatization are often done so by the same corporations heading the schools. That is to say, these large corporations or organizations are the only ones with the means to perform studies to test the effectiveness of their methods. Thus, studies released often show one side of the story, and because they are produced by those heading the schools (the "providers" as Henig refers to them), it is only their side of the story which is shown. Therefore, the public is given a less-than-accurate portrayal of the true results of instituting these types of programs (The Notebook). This is where a huge problem lies: as long as these companies, whose main goal is to produce profit, are deciding whether or not they are doing an acceptable job of educating, the public will remain in the dark as to the true results. It is simple: if a company wants to make money, and running schools is the means by which they do so, those same companies will not admit that they are performing poorly. And when the only information available regarding the matter is produced by them, it will of course be lopsided to make the company look better.