Yesterday the Wall Street Journal published an op-ed (get a subscription, people; there’s no free lunch) about for-profit management of public schools. The authors are researchers at Harvard who have analyzed the test scores of students in schools under for-profit, non-profit, and government management. The kids in the for-profit schools did a bit better than the others, after controlling for student characteristics and other factors.
After berating one of my colleagues for taking test scores too seriously, I probably shouldn’t jump up and down with joy about this.
Still, it’s an indication that we should be willing to experiment with different school structures and management styles. And I’ve always said the St. Louis Public Schools should be run more like a business.
