Privatizing Education: Can The School Marketplace Deliver Freedom Of Choice, Efficiency, Equity, And Social Cohesion? [Paperback]

Henry Levin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 24, 2001 | ISBN-10: 0813366402 | ISBN-13: 978-0813366401 0

Privatizing Educationis a collection of essays written by such luminaries as Martin Carnoy, Christopher Connell, Wendy Connors, Fred Doolittle, Pearl Rock Kane, Frank Kemerer, Christopher Lauricella, Arthur Levine, Ellen Magenheim, Patrick McEwan, Lee D. Mitgang, David Myers, Gary Natriello, Caroline Persell, Mark Schneider, Janelle Scott, Geoffrey Walford, and Amy Stuart Wells who examine the efforts of some educators, reformers, investors, and political groups to move education from the public to the private sector. This is occurring through tuition tax credits, voucher initiatives, and for-profit, educational management organizations. The volume grows out of a conference that took place at Columbia University’s Teachers College which launched the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Henry M. Levinis the William Heard Kilpatrick Professor of Economics and Education at Columbia University Teachers College, where he is Director of the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education. He was formerly on the faculty of Stanford University as the David Jacks Professor of Higher Education and Economics.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Westview Press (May 24, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813366402
• ISBN-13: 978-0813366401
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,697,264 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Leaves a lot unresolved, but that is the point, April 3, 2003

By 

Joseph L. Soler II (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Privatizing Education: Can The School Marketplace Deliver Freedom Of Choice, Efficiency, Equity, And Social Cohesion? (Paperback)

This book reviews the evidence about so-called "choice" models of education or "free market" models and their impact on education. In the end the evidence shows nothing, but it doesn't refute anything either. What Levin shows us pretty convincingly is that, at the moment anyway, this is a debate driven by ideology rather than by evidence. No matter on which side one falls, one can interpret the evidence based upon their perspective, since the evidence is inconclusive. Like so many other debates in our society we have to move beyond the "classroom effects" and investigate what the proponents or opponents really have as their agenda. This is an excellent book simply because it is one of the first systemic reviews of the evidence as opposed to the ideological journalism with which we are most often confronted. No matter one's perspective, this book is worth reading, because it will alternately challenge and support one's views.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Leaves a lot unresolved, but that is the point, April 3, 2003

By 

Joseph L. Soler II (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Privatizing Education: Can The School Marketplace Deliver Freedom Of Choice, Efficiency, Equity, And Social Cohesion? (Paperback)

Levin seems to fall just slightly against the "market" ideas for education, but by exploring the evidence in a domestic and international context we learn the ways in which our ideas are uniquely American and driven by an American ideology that really is not based upon education per se, but an all-pervasive notion of economy.