This annual report from the union-funded National Education Policy Center (NEPC) profiles the nation’s Education Management Organizations—defined here as both nonprofit and for-profit entities that manage public schools, both district and charter. The NEPC offers trends in EMO growth and achievement, as well as profiles of almost 300 such entities. A few interesting tidbits: Enrollment in schools managed by nonprofit EMOs significantly trumps that of the for-profit kind, yet for-profits have squeezed into more states (thirty-three vs. nonprofits’ twenty-nine). For-profit entities disproportionately manage elementary schools (56 percent of their schools are K-5 compared to 37 percent of nonprofits’). And district schools managed by nonprofit EMOs fare significantly worse than their charter counterparts on measures of AYP (14 percent of district schools met AYP compared to 56 percent of charters). Interesting stuff, but beware of simplistic conclusions. These descriptive data are helpful, but can’t begin to tell us about the effectiveness of these respective organizations. For that, at least on the nonprofit side, see the Center on Reinventing Education’s pioneering work on CMOs instead.
Gary Miron, Jessica Urschel, Mayra A. Yat Aguilar, and Breanna Dailey, “Profiles of For-Profit and Nonprofit Education Management Organizations: Thirteenth Annual Report” (Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center, January 2012).
