Education Supply: Will It Create Demand?
As recently as 25 years ago, public schools rarely contracted with private vendors for services. School districts--or, less often, states--ran their own transportation systems and food services, among the biggest budget items after teacher salaries. And while schools bought textbooks privately, California--then as now, the nation's largest textbook market--printed most of its textbooks in the state printing plant (at the time, the largest printing operation west of the Mississippi).
How times have changed. School leaders, eager to unburden themselves, are "outsourcing," contracting out services as fast as they can. Marriott, Pizza Hut, and ARA Services are now commonly seen in school "food courts," and fewer and fewer school districts still own, service, and operate their own bus fleets. And these changes are just the beginning: Since California got out of the printing business 15 years ago, textbooks and workbooks are privately produced for all of the nation's schools. In the newer realm of high technology, schools have never been their own producers. Today, educators must make sane choices among vendors selling a baffling, ever-changing variety of computers, software, CD-ROMs, networks, and telecommunications products.
Schools also use private providers for construction projects; design and construction are the province of private architectural, engineering, and contracting firms. From carpets to paper towels, schools are outfitted by private businesses and distributors. And the drumbeat of privatization goes on: warehousing and inventory control; payroll and accounting; data collection and data management; maintenance, janitorial, and groundskeeping; printing and duplicating; legal and consulting services; energy conservation and management; and training of teachers, administrators, staff, and school board members. In short, almost every administrative and management function in education is or...
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