If the Law on National Strategic Special Zones is revised to allow local governments in Japan to establish public schools under private management, can the experiment deliver what it promises?
Education reformers take for granted that strategies borrowed from business will improve schools. But the evidence is hardly convincing. At least that's the lesson the United States offers Japan.
Charter schools in the U.S., which are the closest model for what Japan is poised to introduce, have a mixed record of success, with some outperforming traditionally-run public schools and others posting worse outcomes.