Headlines
MI: Privatization may be in Detroit’s future
PA: Study shows Pa school bus privatization too costly
PA: Penn State trustees seek advice from Cornell on becoming private university
CA: Editorial: Trend toward privatization needs the cleansing rays of sunshine
UT: Enviro group says public will lose if public lands are privatized
Water activists refuse to debate privatization at controversial forum

MI: Privatization may be in Detroit’s future
Some services would be privatized in Detroit under a state plan aimed at rescuing the cash-strapped city’s finances, according to officials who reviewed language of a draft consent agreement on Tuesday. The plan also proposes the creation of an advisory committee that would remove some power from elected officials. Detroit’s elected officials didn’t appear to have been involved in the decision-making process, Tate said. Gov. Rick Snyder and Treasurer Andy Dillon approved the draft plan…If approved, the deal could keep the state from appointing an emergency financial manager in Detroit, which faces a $197 million budget deficit…The state-appointed review team is examining Detroit’s finances and has until March 27 to report to Snyder, who can appoint an emergency manager for the city. An emergency manager would have the power to rip up and restructure collective bargaining agreements and remove the mayor and other elected leaders from office. A consent agreement would allow Detroit to save face by preserving local authority, but it also would enable the state to take over if the city failed to comply with provisions on timely reporting of finances and following operations and recovery plans. Traverse City Record Eagle

PA: Study shows Pa school bus privatization too costly
According to a new study released Tuesday by the Keystone Research Center, Pennsylvania school districts end up spending more tax dollars on transportation than districts that manage their own bus fleets…..According to the report, using contractors for busing grade school students on average costs $223,900 more than if the district controlled its own busing. If every school district in Pennsylvania “in-sourced” transportation services, the study claims taxpayers would save an estimated $78 million. Study co-author Dr. Stephen Herzenberg believes school bus contracting to be a poor bargain. “At a time when deep cuts to schools are driving up class sizes and limiting student opportunities, should we pay more to private companies to transport kids to school?” Herzenberg asked..Contracting out to a private company does provide a district with a short-term infusion of money, said Herzenberg. This option is also alluring to many districts because the state provides higher reimbursement to districts that contract out bus services, essentially making in-house and contracted costs for districts the same, while transferring the cost to the state government. Herzenberg says this transference of cost doesn’t solve anything. “Pennsylvania should make every tax dollar count instead of giving school districts incentives to adopt inefficient transportation systems,” Herzenberg said. “We can change course now and use the savings to improve the quality of our children’s education.” Essential Public Radio

PA: Penn State trustees seek advice from Cornell on becoming private university
The new chairman of the Penn State board of trustees told members of the faculty senate today that the university has talked to officials at Cornell University about a smooth transition to becoming a private university…Karen Peetz, elected chairwoman after the Jerry Sanusky sex abuse scandal rocked Penn State in November, stressed that the conversation was only exploratory, and said “this can’t be rushed.”..Gov. Tom Corbett said the university will need to choose between continual state funding and its exemption from open records laws. The Patriot-News

CA: Editorial: Trend toward privatization needs the cleansing rays of sunshine
…In California and elsewhere, cost-cutting local governments are outsourcing work to the private sector. In those cases, as well, it should be a given that the public know the details of what private companies are paid and how they perform. But too often, the public and elected officials are left in the dark, warns In the Public Interest, an advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. In a new report coming out this week, the group cites horror stories from around the country. In Wisconsin, parents were unable to get information on school bus drivers who work for a contractor hired by the local school district. In Arizona, the media couldn’t get copies of recommendations that a consultant made to a police department. And in Chicago, lack of transparency helped lead to what is widely viewed as a debacle of a parking lease. The group calls for open records laws to be expanded to cover the dealings of private contractors with government agencies. It also says contracts should be required to contain provisions listing what information will be made public. Sacramento Bee

UT: Enviro group says public will lose if public lands are privatized
While Utah politicians like Sen. Orrin Hatch and Congressman Rob Bishop join the push for Utah to gain control of its public lands from the feds, critics say their arguments about private lands bringing more money towards education is a diversion. “What the state is interested in doing is turning them over to oil and gas industry, to private developers,” says the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance Assoc. Director Heidi McIntosh. McIntosh says that the argument that many lawmakers make saying that privatizing public lands would funnel more money into education is a “red herring.” “The losers are going to be people like you and me and everyone else in Utah who loves to go out and to fish and to hunt,” McIntosh says…The Utah Legislature passed a bill demanding the federal government give control of all federally controlled public land in Utah back to the state by 2014. Now, it’s up to the governor and whether he signs off on it.  Fox13

Water activists refuse to debate privatization at controversial forum
Food & Water Watch and Food & Water Europe executive director Wenonah Hauter declined an invitation to debate World Water Forum participants on the merits of public versus private involvement in the water sector, encouraging them to involve a Philippine water activist who could testify to the disaster that privatization brought to her community in the Philippines. Council of Canadians Chair Maude Barlow had also previously declined the invitation. “Since this debate is closed to the public and is only open to Forum participants, who must pay prohibitive fees in travel and registration to attend, I feel rather than participate in the debate myself, you should hear from a citizen directly impacted by water privatization schemes,” wrote Hauteur to Benedito Braga, President of the International Forum Committee.  “No company should profit from the endeavor to supply the world with clean water and sanitation,” wrote Hauter. “Anything less is unacceptable, and that is why I will not support the Forum with my participation in this debate.”..Food & Water Watch is joining activists in Marseille protesting the Forum as an inappropriate venue for forging water policy at the Alternative Water Forum, which will be held March 14-17. Nearly 3000 people are expected to attend to the alternative forum to counter the corporate-led Forum. Food and Water Watch

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