Doing More With Less: Competitive Contracting for School Support Services

Competitive contracting can provide schools with expertise, flexibility, and cost efficiencies not always available with in-house service provision. If they are properly designed and monitored, contracts between schools and private providers can help school administrators do more with less. Includes step-by-step guidelines for the "make or buy" decision, tells how to avoid pitfalls, and suggests measures for contractor evaluation. 26 pages.

Contents

• Executive Summary
• I. Introduction
• II. Why Contract?
• III. Support Services: Food Service, Busing, and Maintenance
• IV. The Make or Buy Analysis: A Step-by-Step Guide
• V. Contracting for Services
• VI. Avoiding the Pitfalls
• VII. Conclusion
• Acknowledgements
• About the Author
• Appendix I: Suggested Performance Measures
• Appendix II: Suggestions for Overcoming Employee Opposition
• Appendix III: Principles of Successful Contracting
• Appendix IV: Charter Schools
• Appendix V: Recommended Reading
• Appendix VI: Contacts
• Endnotes