Education and School Services

Education and School Services

• Higher education
• K-12 education
• School busing
• School custodians

Public school districts, like other government agencies attempting to cut costs, have tried hiring private companies to take over core operations like cafeteria service, facility maintenance, and bus service. Unfortunately, as with other types of privatization, the cost savings do not always materialize. Hidden and transactional costs and cost overruns often erase any potential savings.

In addition, private companies who win school contracts often cut corners to maximize their profits Common service quality issues include declines in bus safety, inefficient bus route reorganization, declines in food nutrition and/or food options in the cafeteria, and inadequate maintenance of school grounds.

Students are most affected by diminished service quality. But, when parents try to bring attention to the issues, accountability can become complicated. Some school officials have started referring parents to the contractor companies when problems occur, causing confusion over whether the school or the company is ultimately responsible for the students.

Recent reports of interest:

AAPS and the Privatization of School Support Functions
Roland Zullo, 2010

Hard to Swallow: Do Private Food Service Contractors Shortchange New Jersey Schools?
Clarion Group, 2010

Serving Students: A Survey of Contracted Food Service Work in New Jersey's K-12 Public Schools
Rutgers University, 2009

For additional reports, please see the research section on the side bar or visit our research library.

Related Cases

School Services in Southfield School District, Michigan

Faced with a $7 million budget deficit in 2008, the Southfield School District in Michigan contracted out janitorial, food, and busing services.  Hundreds of support staff jobs were lost and the community has felt the negative economic impact of the privatization.   Schools have encountered numerous problems, including an increase in the cost of meals and services to students and a decline in the quality of food and busing services. 

 

Bulletins

"In-sourcing": Switching from contracts to staff saves millions for schools

July 2010

As local politicians bluster about saving money with outsourcing, two San Diego education districts have quietly achieved real savings by doing the opposite - bringing contracted services back in-house.

San Diego Unified School District, the second largest school district in California, ended its bus services contract in January and will save an estimated $1 million per year by bringing the routes in-house. Additionally, in December 2009, the district "in-sourced" the warehousing and distribution of copier paper, at a savings of $153,000 per year.