About Education Management Organizations

Definition

An education management organization is an organization or firm that manages at least one school that receives public funds and operates the public schools it manages under the same admissions rules as regular public schools. Education managment organizations can be for profit or nonprofit organizations. They can manage traditional public schools or charter schools.

History

Education management organizations emerged in the early 1990s in the context of widespread interest in market based school reform proposals. Wall Street analysts coined the term education management organization as an analogue to health maintenance organizations. Proponents of education management organizations claim that they bring a much needed dose of entrepreneurial spirit and a competitive ethos to public education. Opponents argue that outsourcing to education management organizations results in already limited school resources being redirected for service fees, profits, or both while creating another layer of administration. Opponents also have expressed concerns about the implications of public bodies relinquishing control or ownership of schools.