A free market think-tank says the use of private contractors in public schools has grown over the last decade-and-a-half.
70 percent of public school districts in Michigan forgo the search for janitors, bus drivers and cafeteria staff. Instead, those schools rely on private contractors for at least one of those services.
James Hohman is with the Mackinac Center for Public Policy – which conducted the study. He says no school can provide public education by itself.
“Things that school districts used to take on and do themselves, we are looking toward the private sector. And that’s been able to stretch school dollars further.”
Critics of private contractors say they provide sub-standard service and aren’t worth the savings. They say because of budget cuts to public education, schools continue to increase their reliance on third parties.