Private versus public schools

This chapter is titled ‘private versus public schooling’, but this is with a hint of irony. Despite the widespread dilution of the public sector, in many OECD countries, the rhetoric between private versus public schooling continues to be used as a blunt instrument to fuel a popularized debate. Within any given newspaper, any day of the week – from The Guardian, to Huffington Post, or The New York Times – even the list of bestsellers on Amazon, the slogan of ‘private versus public schools’ is a strong seller. The public is clearly attentive to this debate. This debate occurs in the context of post-welfare policy conditions, a schooling market, that essentially pits schools against each other, rather than framing schools as a collective entity with similar goals.