ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the meaning and forms of privatization, attempting to clarify what it is and what it is not as connected to the current critique. The practice of contracting for goods and services already exists in public schools. Drucker's midcentury concept of privatization helps us clarify "the practice of public school districts entering into contracts with private, for-profit organizations to deliver a variety of educational goods and services." Privatization is further clarified by noting proponents' arguments for it: privatization brings the efficiency of the marketplace to public schooling; because schools do not keep pace with international standards, they must respond to the competitive demands of the marketplace; and privatized schools would be more accountable, cost-effective, and entrepreneurial in promoting teacher and parent empowerment. Privatization is distinguished by the governance or control evidenced in different ways. Richard Hunter illustrates the distinction between two notions of privatization where provision is the policy of government and production is the decision of government.
