Privatization often turns out to cost more and provide worse service than public sector workers. Michigan just fired Aramark, which had a three-year contract worth $145 million.
The Eclectablog website credited the persistence of Progress Michigan:
“While the Detroit Free Press takes a victory lap for this development, the true heroes were Progress Michigan who tenaciously kept the story in the news including spending the money needed to procure thousands of pages of documents through Freedom of Information Act requests.”
Thanks to Progress Muchigan but thanks to the Detroit Free Press too.
The Detroit Free Press reported:
“A transition will begin July 29 and is expected to be concluded on Sept. 9 — what would have been three months shy of the two-year anniversary of Aramark’s three-year, $145-million contract with the state of Michigan.
“The Free Press, using the Freedom of Information Act and other sources, has documented a wide range of problems with the prison food service since Aramark took over the contract, replacing 370 state employees. Issues have ranged from meal shortages to maggots in the kitchen, to smuggling of drugs and other contraband by Aramark employees, to Aramark workers engaging in sex acts with prisoners. […]
“Close to 200 Aramark workers have been terminated and banned from prison property for a range of transgressions, including allegedly attempting to hire an inmate to have another inmate assaulted.”
The state has signed a new contract with another private company, Trinity Services Group, for $158 million over three years. Keep your eyes open.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
More problems such as these will arise as corporations actively seek ways to lower the “bottom line.” They are not looking to provide excellent service; their goal is to provide cheap, adequate service. To lower that bottom line, they may do minimal vetting of potential employees. In a school setting there are lots of potential for abuses to occur.
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I think the Netflix series “Orange is the New Black” highlighted this issue this season!
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It is a shame that Chicago does not have journalists like the Detroit Free Press. I think many people gave up on the ‘hospital clean’ schools.
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Are we switching from “A site to discuss better education for all” to a “site to discuss prisons for all?”
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Raj,
The point of that post is that public services are not improved by privatization. They are destroyed.
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A large fraction of this country runs on private industry. In our daily lives we use more private industry/service. It is in poor taste to pick a single private service that failed and insinuate that all private industry/service is bad. When a private industry/service fails it is replaced because some one else can provide the same service to our satisfaction. If a governmental service is poor we are not allowed to go and hire another government.
As an example let the schools go build their own buildings instead of getting contractors to build them. Let us see how good are these teachers/historians who seem to enjoy condemning privatization, in laying concrete, building walls, roofing and providing all the needed services to make a school a place to learn.
We would not be the leading power in the world but for the private industry innovation and hard work ethics.
If the government was to build this nation we would be still riding horse drawn carts and walking in knee deep mud roads. Instead we have very nice cars which in the very near future will be able to drive us where we need to go. Currently they tell us how to get there. Thank God the government is not involved in this technology development.
Just take a look at the old USSR and see what happens when the government does it all. They provided what is referred to as “cradle to grave service.” USSR turned out to be a great example of failed state during our lifetime with extraordinary poor living conditions for its citizens. Take another look at what a government can accomplish by example of North Korea and Myanmar to name a few.
Don’t get me wrong, we need the government, but the private industry is the bedrock of our life style. The government has its place but it should not be the only thing. All privatization should not to be condemned.
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