ABSTRACT
Privatization of schooling generates a host of complex legal issues that are usually overlooked in the literature. This chapter divides privatization into two categories: The first focuses on letting private organizations operate public schools either by contracting with school districts or through the charter school process; the second focuses on providing parents with publicly funded vouchers and tax benefits so that they can enroll their children in private schools. The first category is substantially different from the second in that the schools theoretically remain public. Under the second, it is assumed that private schools remain private. The chapter also focuses briefly on four: restrictive constitutional provisions; the status of the schools operated by private entities; selective admissions; and the role of unions and collective bargaining. Private organizations operating public schools cannot, of course, select the students they want to educate. However, troubling legal issues surface when the educational program is thematic.
