Public – Private

Leave aside the specifics of this particular story in The Times, isn’t this public – private thing a little tired in the context of school management? Public schools provide a public service and it can be provided in a variety of ways through a variety of governance arrangements. In fact, under the reductionist definition that if it’s not run by the school district then it’s private, then the United Federation of Teachers’ charter schools are “privately” managed, too…Isn’t the real issue less the management as an absolute issue than whether there is accountability to the public and the public interest?

And I know, I’m asking for a treatise here on how the UFT is completely different than some school management company, but it’s really not in the analytic or public policy sense, only as a value issue. The question is really whether in terms of managing schools either can be held accountable to the public, and of course both can.