Educational systems around the world pursue both public and private objectives. They are able to balance both objectives by allowing greater freedom for schools to meet the families’ private objectives with an educational model that delivers a collective experience that maintains a cohesive society. Using data from PISA 2009, this study explores the possible implications that public and private funding and provision have on the following four objectives of education: (a) freedom of choice, (b) productive efficiency, (c) equity, and (d) social cohesion. We find that there are tensions in achieving some of these objectives simultaneously. However, there are some policies that reduce some of these tensions, while others tend to exacerbate them.
Educational finance; privatization; school choice; vouchers; public education
