ABSTRACT
The marketisation of school education is one policy technology shaping the school education sector. Education quasi-markets enact the neoliberal idea that markets are a preferred means of governing the delivery of government services. School markets aim to increase parental choice and responsibility, support the efficient allocation and use of resources and incentivise school improvement and performance. The imperfect and deleterious assumptions and effects of school marketisation and competition have been well documented. These include the production of winners and losers, re-orienting school values, resources and practices around the market and a focus on creating and managing a school brand. This chapter offers empirical insights into the market dynamics created when a political decision was made to build a selective senior secondary college in a regional community in the context of public schools obtaining increased autonomy. We document the impact of competition and the specific tactics used by school leaders to poach and defend their enrolments from local competitors.
