ABSTRACT This paper focuses on an area of privatisation that has not to date received significant attention in educational research: the privatisation of infrastructure, facilities and maintenance, and in particular the labour of cleaning. Analysing the case of Victoria, Australia, we demonstrate how successive governments have defended the privatisation of cleaning labour on the basis that it allows schools to concentrate on the ‘core’ business of teaching and learning. Tracing the evolution of private contracts and public–private partnerships, we argue that the bracketing of cleaning work divides the types of labour carried out in the school, and thus the meaning and practice of public education. Thus, we suggest that controversies regarding the underpayment of cleaning staff, for instance, signal a deep problematic for public education as a whole.

中文翻译：

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清洁公共教育：学校维修工作的私有化

摘要 本文重点讨论了迄今为止在教育研究中尚未受到重视的私有化领域：基础设施、设施和维护的私有化，尤其是清洁劳动的私有化。通过分析澳大利亚维多利亚的案例，我们展示了历届政府如何捍卫清洁劳动力的私有化，理由是它允许学校专注于教学的“核心”业务。追溯私人合同和公私伙伴关系的演变，我们认为清洁工作的括号划分了学校中进行的劳动类型，从而划分了公共教育的意义和实践。因此，我们建议，例如，有关清洁人员工资不足的争议，