Against Privatizing Schools in the United Kingdom

This paper argues against two models for privatizing schools in the UK: contracting out the management of schools to private companies, and voucher schemes. Contracting out cannot yield the efficiency benefits that are claimed for it, because the contracting process cannot be sufficiently competitive and the government cannot have sufficient knowledge of what makes schools successful to manage the contracts well. Vouchers will not work because the private sector in the UK will not be willing to participate in a scheme which incorporates regulations designed to achieve a minimal level of social justice.