Education Law

Privately run schools lag district schools in performance

A new study found that public schools run by the Philadelphia School District outperformed those that are privately managed, according to this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer. The study, conducted by Harvard University professor Paul Peterson, was partially paid for by Edison, which runs 20 city district schools. 

BoardBuzz believes that now is the time to rethink the privatization experiment in the city, which has not produced robust results for students managed by the private companies.

By the same token, the private tutoring companies paid for under the No Child Left Behind Act have not demonstrated their effectiveness by raising student achievement seven years after the law was passed. Congress should reexamine the use of these companies and how tutoring will work in the next iteration of NCLB. NSBA believes school districts should be a key decision makers when it comes to which tutoring companies are approved and how funding should be spent on these services.  Be sure to check out our  recommendations.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on April 16, 2009 (boomark / email).