| Summary: | Debate about the appropriate role for the private sector in public
education is a recurrent theme in the education literature, yet it remains
an issue that is both poorly defined and inadequately analysed.
Controversy revolves around the incongruence between the expectations
of the private sector to reduce costs and maximise profit while training
students for the workforce, and the expectation that a public school
system has loftier goals such as the betterment of society and the
attainment of each student's full potential. At the heart of the matter lie
questions about the purposes of public education and contentions about
who should control curriculum and its delivery in the schools. Various
groups involved in public education in British Columbia have formulated
guidelines and policies to address concerns regarding sponsorships,
partnerships, and the provision of teaching resources.
This study explores and critiques the current policies of school boards
and the Ministry of Education in British Columbia, providing commentary
on the role of the private sector as it relates to the delivery of public
education. The three main goals of this study are: • to identify what kinds of private sector involvements are recognised
by school boards and the Ministry in British Columbia during the
1998/99 school year;
• to clarify what these educational organisations define as the purposes
and perceived benefits of private sector involvement in public
education; and,
• to identify what problems these organisations wish to preclude or
issues they intend to address through the implementation of policy.
It was found that three waves of policy have developed since the
early 1980s. The first wave of policies was from the 1980s, the second
from the early and 1990s, and the third from 1997 to the present.
These three waves are differentiated on the number and complexity of
school/business types, purposes, and issues that are dealt with. The first
wave policies that are still in existence are from small and rural districts,
whereas the third wave policies are from large and urban districts that are
facing pressures for resources due to increased student enrollment and
diversity of student needs and backgrounds. The latter policies spoke to
seven purposes for involvement, seven types of involvement, and four
sets of anticipated issues.
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