Private Equity: Are Governments Responsible for Private Schools in Times of Crisis?

• In Event: Constructing Educational Possibilities Through Normative Case Study Conversations

Abstract

Set in Mexico, “Private Equity: Are Governments Responsible for Private Schools in Times of Crisis?” examines Mexico’s education policy response to the financial struggles that private schools in the country faced during the Covid-19 pandemic. Private schools petitioned the government for school funding via tax subsidies to ease their financial burdens, as well as permission to open their doors before the government lifted the ban on in-person education for all schools. However, the government denied their requests. Was the government’s education policy ethical, given that private schools play an important role in expanding educational access for Mexican children, particularly at the preschool and secondary levels? At the same time, would it be ethical to divert funds from a struggling public system into the private sector?
In the conversation about this case, a diverse group drew on their experiences as scholars, educators, and parents to examine how the diversity of the private education sector in Mexico complicates the dilemmas raised in the case: while the government’s refusal to support elite private schools seems clearly just, the group disagrees about whether schools serving low- and middle-income populations should have received some support to prevent them from closing. The author’s contribution will focus on areas of disagreement and consensus in the conversation.

Author

• Leonel Perez Exposito, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana