Does educational privatisation promote social justice?

Abstract

Social justice in education refers to the expectation that the education system provides fairness in its access to opportunities and results. Proponents of educational privatisation believe this would not only open up opportunities for those that otherwise are restricted from attending good schools, but that it would also improve overall efficiency in the education system through pressures of market competition. This article first provides a framework for analysing a quasimarket in education and for considering the potential effects of privatisation. It then applies this framework to the Netherlands, a school system premised completely on choice where two thirds of the schools are privately sponsored. We conclude that the Dutch system, thanks to a series of policies and regulations in place, performs relatively well on social justice, when looking at freedom of choice and overall productive efficiency. However, for equity and social cohesion, despite clear policy efforts, the privatised system seems to undermine social justice for certain groups in the population. The dilemma observed here is that some private benefits of education must be compromised to achieve greater equity and social cohesion. It is an open question whether policy makers are willing to make such tradeoffs.

What Are the Role and Impact of Public-Private Partnerships in Education? A Realist Evaluation of the Chilean Education Quasi-Market

“…Yet although public choice theory assumes the superiority of private institutions, advocates do not necessarily seek pure-market arrangements. As Levin et al (2013) remind us, even Milton Friedman recognized that equity and social cohesion concerns may justify public funding and other forms of intervention in educational markets. Hence, alternatives are often premised on continued state funding to provide public goods because the potential for free-riders in some sectors could otherwise lead to an undersupply of socially desired goods such as education (Olson 1965).…”

Recontextualización de políticas y (cuasi)mercados educativos. Un análisis de las dinámicas de demanda y oferta escolar en Chile

“…Aunque la TEP asume la superioridad de la provisión privada, no considera imprescindible que los servicios públicos sean provistos únicamente desde el mercado. De hecho, como nos recuedan Levin et al (2013), el propio Milton Friedman reconoció que aspectos como la equidad o la cohesión social pueden justificar la financiación pública u otras formas de intervención estatal en los sistemas educativos. Así pues, muchas de las propuestas sobre la aplicación de los postulados de la TEP en educación (así como de otros bienes 'socialmente deseables') apuestan por la generación de cuasi-mercados educativos (en lugar de mercados puros) en los que predomina la financiación estatal de los servicios (Olson, 1965).…”

Full Issue

“…In fact, the privatization policies and processes that shape the current transformation of national educational systems result from and in turn create trajectories that are much more T 5(2) 115 heterogeneous and multifaceted than those that characterized its configuration in the XIX century. It is actually to a great extent its own heterogeneous nature that poses complex challenges to the fundamental premises of equity and social cohesion (Levin et al, 2013).…”

“…It is actually to a great extent its own heterogeneous nature that poses complex challenges to the fundamental premises of equity and social cohesion (Levin et al, 2013).…”

“…In fact, the privatization policies and processes that shape the current transformation of national educational systems result from and in turn create trajectories that are much more T 5(2) 115 heterogeneous and multifaceted than those that characterized its configuration in the XIX century. It is actually to a great extent its own heterogeneous nature that poses complex challenges to the fundamental premises of equity and social cohesion (Levin et al, 2013).Several studies have tried to analyze the phenomenon of privatization of education as a necessary consequence of the emergence of neoliberalism (Giroux, 2005;Ball & Youdell, 2008; Klees, 2008, among others). However, considering the cultural-historical dynamics that have determined the prevalence of privatization processes, neoliberalism appears as the expected and trivial discursive correlate of a process that responds to deeper consensus and networks of significance.…”