ABSTRACT
At budget time – well, nearly all the time – the jargon has it that schools must operate like businesses. Business buzzwords fly around: line management, value-added, target-setting, efficiency gains, cashflow enhancement, performance-related pay. The idea is always seductive: the values of trade are brisk, profitable and predictable. Bums on seats and full order books mean dividends. New ideas can be tried. Failures can be written off to experience. When it comes to raw materials, unreliable or sub-standard suppliers can be berated, nagged, hammered with penalty clauses and blacklisted.
