ABSTRACT

English education has a long-standing parallel but unequal school system. State-maintained schools are free of charge for attendees; independent schools are free from state control and funded largely by fees. Most independent schools hold charitable status which benefits them in relation to taxation although they cater largely for socially advantaged students. Various governments have enacted different policies to try to rebalance some of these systemic educational tensions. This paper examines how the independent and state school partnerships (ISSP) policy seeks to rebalance, or provide some compensation for, independent schools' charitable status through the requirement that they provide ‘public benefit’. In ISSPs, schools from the two sectors work together on dedicated activities, sharing resources and expertise. Drawing on data from three telling cases, we argue that ISSP policy may deliver some localised benefits to both types of schools but that these relationships are unlikely to produce any major structural changes.

摘要

英语教育有一个长期存在的平行但不平等的学校体系。公立学校对参加者免费；独立学校不受国家控制，主要靠学费资助。大多数独立学校拥有慈善地位，这在税收方面对他们有利，尽管它们主要迎合具有社会优势的学生。各国政府制定了不同的政策，试图重新平衡其中一些系统性教育紧张局势。本文探讨了独立和公立学校合作伙伴关系 (ISSP) 政策如何通过要求独立学校提供“公共利益”来重新平衡或为独立学校的慈善地位提供一些补偿。在 ISSP 中，两个部门的学校共同开展专门的活动，共享资源和专业知识。