| While the expansion of markets is evident in many areas, in education, market advocates note that such reforms are not privatization, since ownership of schools remains public under most charter school proposals. However, some claim that, in using the pursuit of private advantage as their driving force, these reforms slight the public interest in education. This study seeks to understand the values regarding the democratic or common good that underlie market-oriented school reforms. It is primarily a philosophical undertaking, synthesizing existing literatures, data, and views into a new interpretation of current reforms.;The study employs four cases to examine the assumptions undergirding market proposals for public education. First, the study explores the discourse around charter schools in Michigan, as an example of market penetration into public education. Second, the common school reforms offer a distinct contrast to current reform rhetoric, where education was promoted as a public good necessary for the survival of democracy. These first two cases are examined through discourse analysis, involving reviews of public rhetoric and historical analysis of primary and secondary sources for evidence of the values that undergird reforms, and to see how ideas are advanced in the discourse.;Recent reforms in Britain offer a more developed instance of education framed as a private good. Using comparative methods, the study looks at the outcomes and implications of this case for policymakers. Finally, the analysis turns to the enclosure movements of early modern Europe as a metaphor for analyzing current reforms in education.;In this analysis, the metaphor indicates that, contrary to the claims of current market advocates, privatization is advanced in education by reconfiguring the purpose of a public good as a commodity to serve primarily private interests. Indeed, education may be a unique institution compared to other privatized sectors, since privatization here does not require private ownership. By redefining the "public" aspect of education, this de facto privatization of its purpose encloses the institution of public schooling away from its potential role as the space for deliberation in a democratic society, which has implications for its potential to serve the common good. |
