The author argues that the ascendance of individualistic, free market-oriented ideas about the education of Black people is best understood as the product of the decline of collective social movements. The careers of two of the most well-known American Black educators illustrate this pattern. Booker T. Washington and Geoffrey Canada rose to…

In 1955, Milton Friedman authored a foundational paper proposing a shift in funding and governance mechanisms for public K-12 schools, suggesting that parents be awarded tuition vouchers that they could use to pay for private sector education services for their children, rather than relying on government provided neighborhood schools. Friedman…

With contributions from Linda Darling-Hammond, Michael Fullan, Pasi Sahlberg, and Martin Carnoy, "Global Education Reform" is an eye-opening analysis of national educational reforms and the types of high-achieving systems needed to serve all students equitably.The collection documents the ideologically and educationally distinctive…

This commentary explores the so-called global "crisis" in education and the corresponding pressures and moves to "reform" education, and in particular, public education. The myths underpinning and driving these developments are examined. Supposed problems with (public) education and proposed solutions are explored. The…

The last three decades have witnessed great social, political and economic change in China since the market reforms in the late 1970s. A market economy was adopted as a replacement to the planned economy in order to allocate resources more efficiently. Consequently, higher education in China has undergone dramatic reforms to adapt to this…

Since the time of the Reagan revolution in the nation's politics--a transformation dedicated to privatizing everything someone could make a profit on--higher education has undergone its own radical transformation. In higher education, within three decades of the Reagan presidency, a corporate model of organization and operation, set up to maximize…

The Obama presidency has been premised on a commitment to progressive social change in its a repudiation of unfettered free-market capitalism. It also signals the end of an era in which privatization, deregulation, and cut throat competition combined with a massive assault on the social state. While such reforms are welcome, they do not as yet go…

This article presents aspects of the regulatory reform work in public sectors was guided by the OECD in the 1990's manifested in GATS ( 1995 ) strategically planned by and through the Bologna Process and eagerly elaborated by boards and power holders of universities and university colleges. The tendency is privatisation which has as a consequence…

Prior to Poland's transition from central planning to a market system, which began in 1990, schools of business were non-existent in that country. Instead, university level instruction on economics during the socialist period was closely tied to ideological priorities, and limited to imparting skills suitable for planned economy. All universities…

Economic growth is stimulated through learning. In "the learning economies" of those European regions that chose to develop their human and intellectual capital wisely, benefits have been visible. But this is a one-dimensional outlook in a multi-dimensional world. A "Learning Region" is an entirely different entity, pooling and…

Neo-liberal policies and programs regarding higher education operate to fulfill either one of two main goals. The first is the privatization of public education. The second objective is the creation of an "iron cage" of economic rationality and standardization, which functions to regulate the production of human capital in the public education…

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the open day at grammar schools in Slovenia (a post-socialist country) from two perspectives, namely from that of marketisation and commodification of education and from the point of view of marketing education. Slovenia, as have many countries around the world, undertook the restructuring of public schools…

In the last two decades, China's education has experienced significant transformations and restructuring on account of privatization and marketization. Unlike the Mao era when the state assumed the major responsibilities in financing and providing education, individuals and families have now to bear increasing financial burdens in paying for…

This chapter is organized as follows. The first section examines the evolving state and federal role in education and the implications of an expanded federal role on the structure of the educational system. It pays particular attention to how the debate on the causes and solutions to school reform has shifted and the impact this has had on school…

Charles Whittle's Edison Project aims to create 1,000 efficient schools driven by technology and the marketplace; students will supposedly generate high test scores and become competitive, proficient workers. Those opposing the profit motive's incursion into public education predict that the Edison Project and other privatization efforts will…