Font size:
More than half of Michigan’s public school districts contract out for custodial, busing or food services because they have to in order to direct more dollars to the classroom, according to an Op-Ed Sunday in the Detroit Free Press by Mackinac Center researchers.
James Hohman, assistant director of fiscal policy, and Josiah Kollmeyer, research intern, conducted the Center’s 2011 school privatization survey and found that almost 54 percent of districts privatize one of the three main noninstructional services.
Sunday’s editorial in The Flint Journal also cites the survey, noting that 62 percent of Genesee County districts contract out, and notes that “If the same service can be provided for less money, public entities owe it to their owners, the taxpayers, to seek the cost savings.”
Get insightful commentary and the most reliable research on Michigan issues sent straight to your inbox.
The Mackinac Center for Public Policy is a nonprofit research and educational institute that advances the principles of free markets and limited government. Through our research and education programs, we challenge government overreach and advocate for a free-market approach to public policy that frees people to realize their potential and dreams.
Please consider contributing to our work to advance a freer and more prosperous state.
