Adding value to public education: an examination of the possibilities for public private partnerships

The paper explores the multiple dimensions of public-private partnerships in education that have been initiated in Australia and overseas, especially in the UK. It argues that the growing importance of education in modern societies and economies necessitates more flexible and diverse approaches to the provision of education, including public schooling. Public-private partnerships provide an important means of doing this and can underpin major reforms and innovations. Several arguments are advanced for public-private partnerships. They concern the limitations and inadequacies of solely government provided education, the increased demands for financing education, a changed and broader concept of public good, and the opportunities to build social capital. The paper explores a range of approaches to public-private partnerships. They include mixes of public and private schools, private participation in the delivery of public education, education-industry partnerships, forms of private investment in education, networks of public and private organisations, school-community partnerships, and private management of public education providers. There is a considerable amount of evidence of the success of both international and national innovations in public-private partnerships. They have mostly produced better educational outcomes and at lower costs for governments. However, they do raise challenges for the ways in which we plan, govern and manage educational provision, for the ways in which educators work, and for our attitudes towards diversity and on-going change in education. A public private partnership in school education is a legally binding agreement between a public authority responsible for a school or school system and a non-public entity that is intended to bring a benefit to each party. The non-public entity may be an individual or organisation and may be either profit or non-profit. For a non-profit entity, the benefit may be the satisfaction of a mission that may include the achievement of a benefit to the education partner. The non-private entity may be an organisation of volunteers.

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