Public-private partnerships (PPPs) in education: Good, Bad, or Else

I was hired by Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) as a middle school special education teacher in Nashville, TN before I came to Lehigh University to pursue my doctoral degree. My colleague, Ms. Johns, is a Board Certified Behavior Analysis. She came to my classroom twice per week to provide behavioral health services for Eric. Eric is a student served under the Individualized Education Plan( IEP ) due to behavioral and communication challenges caused by autism.  Like me, Ms. John spent all her day in the school building, but her employer is not MNPS. It is a company called Spectrum Center, which operates 25 schools and programs serving 115 public school districts in California, Florida, and Tennessee.

My experience is an example of Public-Private Partnerships(PPPs)  in education.  Public-private partnerships (PPP) in education can be conceptualized as a contractual arrangement between the state and a private entity in terms of education provision and management (Patrinos et al., 2009).  According to a report from World Bank (2009), PPPs can facilitate service delivery and bring additional financial resources for public education, which in turn, increase equitable access and improve students’ school performance. Because of the market-driven nature of the private sector, it brings competition in education, which hopefully leads to better education services. Governments can choose a private provider who has the potential to deliver the service at the lowest cost.  It enables the government to get more things done for the public with the same amount of tax money.

PPPs also received criticism. The potential privatization of education caused by PPPs may compete for control over public education with the government.   It also can cause socioeconomic segregation in education. Due to the availability of educational choices, students with better academic performance and higher socioeconomic status may go to high-quality schools. In contrast, students from low socioeconomic families who are the victims of the inequlity may end up receiving education from a falling school. The education gap between the two groups would grow wider and wider.  Last, PPPs are challenged by teacher unions, who consider PPPs as a threat to job stability (World Bank, 2009).  

One may ask, is PPPs in education a good thing or bad thing?  To answer this question, let us have a look at charter schools, one of the most known PPPs types in education in the United States. Charter schools are public schools contracted out to the private sector. According to Charter Schools supporters, charter schools represent innovations and more student-centered than traditional public schools( Bettinger, 1999).   However, research findings don’t support this conclusion. It was found that whether or not charter schools underperform traditional public schools in terms of students’ math and reading scores depending on the school locations, student grade levels and the subjects ( Betts & Tang, 2011). In other words,  the success of charter schools is influenced by many factors. A better question, in this case, is that under which condition, charter schools would be a success?  For PPPs in education in general, it is probably better to identify factors that influence PPPs and then efficiently implement PPPs with a problem-solving focus to address the factors identified. Specifically, it is not wrong or right of PPPs in education itself, but the core is how to run PPPs in education in a proper way.

What are the principles for best practices in PPPs?  Corrigan et al. (2005) suggested the following principles:

1.  Set up solid foundations for the coming PPPs.
2.  Build a shared vision.
3.  Develop a deep understanding of your partners and key players.
4.  Analyze and be clear on the risks and benefits for both the public and private sectors.
5.  Establish a data-driven and outcome-oriented decision-making process.
6.  Set up an efficient monitoring system to make sure all parties fulfill their responsibilities.
7.  Create consistent and coordinated leadership in the partnership.
8.  Communicate in a timely and responsive manner.
9.  Implement a fair deal structure.
10.   Count trust as a core value.

Based on the suggested principles, we can see the success of PPPs in education starts with the shared vision for education.  It is crucial to achieving an agreement in terms of what kind of education system we are looking for, how we support the key players’ development and needs, and what is our priority in education.  Ideally, we want an education system that can provide free and high-quality education for all students in our society regardless of their race, culture, and socioeconomic background with possibly the lowest government budget. People such as teachers, service providers, administrators are motivated, feel rewarded, and have resources and opportunities to work with autonomy. The system should not cost a lot of tax money to run with assistance from the private sector. The private sector benefits themselves by making a profit and serving the community, which, in the end, serves themselves.  To ensure the public and private sector work toward the agreement, timely and effective communication, trust, a responsive monitoring system, a clear and rational decision-making process, and legislative protection are all essential.

I shared this blog with Ms.Johns. She texted me after she read it. Her text message is, “Never thought we were competitors, Lol. To me, we are all in this together for the growth of children and a better world to live in.”

Reference

Bettinger, E., 1999. The Effect of Charter Schools on Charter Students and Public Schools. National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education. Teachers College, Columbia University. Occasional Paper No.4.

Betts, Julian R., and Y. Emily Tang. 2011. The Effect of Charter Schools on Student Achievement: A Meta-analysis of the Literature. National Charter School Research Project.

Corrigan, M. B.,  Hambene, J.,  Hudnut, W.,  Levitt, R.L., Stainback, J., Ward, R., and Witenstein, N. (2005) Ten Principles for Successful Public/Private Partnerships. Retrieved from http://uli.org/wp-content/uploads/2005/01/TP_Partnerships.pdf

Patrinos, Harry Anthony, Felipe Barrera Osorio, and Juliana Gua´queta. 2009. The Role and Impact of Public-Private Partnerships in Education. Washington, DC: World Bank.