Nationally, hired firms have had little effect

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, February, 2007 | by Martha Woodall

Desperate to find ways to boost student performance, districts across the country have turned to companies to run schools, but researchers say the management change didn't transform the schools.

"They have neither destroyed the schools nor have they made a big difference," said Henry M. Levin, director of Columbia University's National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education.

The idea that outside managers could improve schools gained momentum in the 1990s. Advocates maintained that schools would be more effective if market forces and business practices were introduced. Streamlining outmoded bureaucracies, they said, would improve efficiency and provide opportunities for educational innovation.

After the state took over Philadelphia's district...