"Privatization" Failure

I found this on the Mises blog:

This CNN article explains a failed "privatization" attempt. I put that word in quotation marks because, as the article reveals, it seems that the government still interfered. I don't know any more details, but I bet this is comparable to the failure of "deregulation" in California electricity.

Brian Moore's comment (he also blogs) exposes the lie in CNN's headline ("Pennsylvania school privatization effort collapses"):

From the article:

Edison also found itself in a perpetual three-way power struggle with the board and the central administration. The contract did not allow Edison to hire or fire teachers. The company also did not control the district's finances and had limited ability to shift resources to places that needed them. It was not involved in generating the faulty information that hid the system's [$35 million] budget deficit.

So, this "private" school didn't have control over human resources, budget, budget allocation or accounting? That's a new definition of "private" to me.

Indeed. The news article also mentions that Edison Schools is leaving "partly" because it hasn't been paid $4 million it's owed.

It's important for people to know that this was not privatization, despite how the media presents it.