Colegios en Concesión The Public School Concession Model Bogotá, Colombia

Context Recession has led to rise in unemployment, poverty, and income inequality Search for economic opportunities and peace has led to migration to urban areas, such as Bogotá With population of 5 million, Bogotá’s outskirts are quickly becoming urbanized Increasing demand for public services, such as running water, health services, and education has been difficult to meet

Education in Colombia Access and Quality differ greatly across geographic region and income groups Increasing demand for public schooling Percentage of public expenditures on education rose from 2.5% to 4.1% over the last decade Poor management and misallocation of resources: close to 90% of educational funds are spent on salaries, while less than 2% goes to educational materials Nationwide, 42% of children that enter school complete the basic education cycle

Education in Bogotá –Bogotá has 7 of Colombia’s top 10, and 46 of the top 96, performing schools. Fewer than 10 of the top 96 are public. –Bogotá represents 28% of national private matriculation and 10% of public matriculation. –Approximately 720,000 of the 1.4 million children of school age receive schooling through public funding. –Bogotá’s over-14 population has completed on average 9.1 years of schooling; whereas, rest of country averages 6.8.

Previous Reforms and the need for a new Approach Results of previous reforms: good for expanding coverage, mixed results for improving quality. –Assigning publicly paid teachers to private institutions in exchange for a certain number of student places (10,500 students). –Publicly-funded scholarships that parallel voucher system to attend private schools (60,000 students).

An Improvement from previous reforms Results-based evaluation mechanisms (student performance, drop-out rates) Conducive to Continuity and implementation of long-term projects (15 year contracts) Clear accountability structure Targeting underprivileged areas Targeting school management

Key Concepts of a New Model Knowledge Pooling: concentration of high quality private institutions Economies of Scale: management structures already in place Government Commitment: not a short-term financing solution year contracts and capital investments. Not implemented as an effort to cost-save nor is it focused to solve a short-term cash flow problem.

The Concession Model Process Identification of neediest geographical areas Construction of state-of-the-art facilities –Approximately 10,000 square feet – students –24 classrooms, recreation room, science laboratory, two art rooms, three technology rooms, a library, and a multi-purpose field –Each approximately US$2.5 million to construct Offer management rights in public procurement process Evaluation of Proposals –30%: Quality of the Proyecto Educativo Institucional (PEI) –30%: Proposed profile of administrators and teachers –30%: Quality of bidders, as measured by student performance –10%: Yearly per-student allocation requested

The Contract: the obligations of the Concessionary Aside from maintaining certain standards, Concessionary has complete autonomy over school management: Obligation to provide educational services to disadvantaged children Single shift school day (jornada unica) 15 year contract Agreement of results-based evaluation –Pre-determined targets for average student achievement in Language and Mathematics, as well as an expected decrease in drop-out rates –Failure to meet targets for two consecutive years, and SED can end contract

Monitoring and Evaluation Three mechanisms: –SED inspects administration of school property –SED supervisory visits to observe adherence to pedagogical norms and standards –SED finances independent evaluation to determine if academic objectives have been met

Financing Arrangement Starting in 1999, planned disbursement of US$294 million over 15 years (~ 6% of SED annual budget, financed with resources of the District of Bogotá) Average payment of US$506 per child per year (Bogotá averages US$470 city wide) Payments are made in three phases: –25% in January –40% in March –35% in June

Program Time Line 2000: 16 schools began operating (all preschool and primary) 2001: 6 new schools 2002: foreseen opening of 17 new schools Full operation: 51 schools, reaching 45,000 students (~5% of public schooling in Bogotá)

Results and Reactions Results: Estimated Average Expenditure Break-down for Concessionaries: –55% to human resources (compared to 90% in public system) –27% to nutritional support –5% to textbooks and educational materials –11% to operational costs Reactions: From skepticism to optimism Good relations between Concessionaries and SED Educators pleased with increased autonomy

Motivations for Involvement Concessionaries (these are established private schools, private school joint ventures, religious communities that run schools, social organizations): –To promote positive non-elitist image –To participate in a project with high social value –Potential financial gains are small and rarely a motivating factor Educators: –To have increased autonomy, –To be part of an innovative, exciting project

Lessons Learned: The Principal-Teacher Relationship The Principal’s dilemma in teacher management: Positive: Teachers are hired at market salaries on ten-month renewable contracts, giving principals flexibility to demand quality Negative: Teachers have incentive to apply to regular public system openings, where contracts are indefinite and they can work more than one shift.

Lessons Learned: the Two Modes of Concession Agreements One-to-one Experience (one private school taking over administration of one public school) –principal has instructional and administrative burden –Principal receives more personalized, informal coaching Multiple School Experience (organization or private group taking over administration of several public schools): –Principal is alleviated of administrative burden by centralized administrative support networks –Principal receives institutionalized coaching

Conclusions and Remaining Questions Conclusions –Aligns the goals of the actors –Introduces competition effectively –Increases school autonomy –Positive effect on school environment Remaining Questions –Whether the Model can be expanded or replicated. Question of context and political will. –Should capital costs be included in concession contract?