Private Firms Run Two Mich. Districts

Editorial Projects in Education. 6935 Arlington Road Suite 100, Bethesda, MD 20814-5233. Tel: 800-346-1834; Tel: 301-280-3100; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: http://www.edweek.org/info/about/

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School Districts; Public Schools; Educational Administration; Privatization; Elementary Secondary Education; Educational Change; Administrative Change; Faculty Mobility; Poverty; Academic Achievement; School Security; Charter Schools; Teacher Salaries; Court Litigation

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Educators and policy observers are keeping a close eye on two controversial experiments in private management of public schools now unfolding in the western Michigan city of Muskegon Heights and in the Detroit-area community of Highland Park. Citing chronic budget woes in the communities' low-performing school districts, Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan last year declared a state of financial emergency and appointed an emergency manager for each district. The managers, in turn, hired two separate companies--Mosaica Education and the Leona Group--to run the schools. Gov. Snyder, a Republican, has also appointed emergency managers for one other district, the Detroit public school system, and six Michigan city governments--almost all of which represent primarily black communities. The moves have caused pushback from civil rights groups and aggravated racial tensions in the state. For educators and K-12 analysts, however, these ventures have implications for evaluating what happens when for-profit companies manage public schools on a systemwide basis. This article includes an analysis of the performance of these two private companies.

ERIC

2013

EJ1008523