著者

中村 護光

出版者

長野工業高等専門学校

雑誌

長野工業高等専門学校紀要 (ISSN:02861909)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.38, pp.95-102, 2004-06-30

---

In the latter half of the 1990s, an emerging business opportunity in the American education industry attracted the interest of venture businesses. They now forge management contracts with public schools and school districts, providing them with learning programs, and thus helping them reconstruct themselves and revitalize their educational services. Since the 1983 publication of A Nation at Risk by the National Commission on Excellence in Education, many American parents and taxpayers have been dissatisfied with the prevailing state of public education. ln the meantime, state educational reforms have allowed school districts to loosen their control over schools. Such decentralization policies have allowed site-based management, and seen the birth of charter schools. Now accountability systems complying with the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) regulations have been implemented in many states. Reconstitution and takeover of schools by local authorities have become reality. Seizing this opportunity, private education management organizations have embarked on the business of managing imperiled schools. Thus, contract schools were born. The traditional American public education system is now being challenged by privatization. The meaning of public education and even the value of its existence have been called into question. This paper reviews this trend toward privatization and possible future developments.