Schools between the public and the private – perceptions of Portuguese principals about the private management of public school

Abstract

The privatization of the management of public schools has seen several developments, including charter schools (United States of America). Compared to traditional public schools, they have greater autonomy to define educational projects and manage financial and human resources. Under the motto of freedom of choice and modernization of public administration, this model of schools was adopted in several countries and appeared in Portugal, in 2013, a proposal called “independent schools”. Given the motion to reject the XX Government in 2015, this “quasi-project” ended up not being implemented, or even debated its implementation. This study, of a predominantly quantitative methodological nature, intends to resume this debate and analyze the perceptions of Portuguese directors of public schools about the private management of the school, advantages, and disadvantages of it, having as reference the existing experiences in other countries. The data collected by a questionnaire survey, applied at national level, was completed by 81 (10%) heads of school clusters and non-clustered schools. It was concluded that, although 47% of respondents know about the existence of this model of public schools in other countries, only 22% know how it works; 75% disagree with the attribution of school management to the private sector; on the other hand, autonomy for the definition of educational projects and for the management of human resources are the characteristics of the model most valued by the directors; The increase in segregation and the decrease in equity that this model of schools can foster are among the most worrying disadvantages.