Michigan school districts are increasingly contracting support services with a private vendor -- a process known as "privatization" -- to save money and improve service.

Done right, privatization can improve the food students eat for breakfast and lunch and how they are transported to school. It also helps districts funnel the savings into the classroom.

Survey data compiled by the Mackinac Center finds that from 2005 to 2006, the percentage of districts that contracted food, busing or janitorial services rose from 35.5 percent to 37.4 percent -- or 5.3 percent.

Food services have been the most popular function to privatize. The Mackinac Center determined that about 13.2 percent of conventional public school districts nationwide contract with a private firm to help manage or provide school food services.

This is well below Michigan's state-reported rate of 28.8 percent -- the fourth highest in the nation -- yet Michigan's rate pales compared with Rhode Island at 86.1 percent and New Jersey at 64.4 percent.

School bus service is another area of opportunity. Robin Leeds, a school transportation industry consultant, says about 90 percent of students (public, private and parochial) in Connecticut and Massachusetts ride to and from school on privately owned or managed buses.

As of August 2006, just 22 Michigan school districts contracted with a private firm for bus service to some degree.

While school transportation contracting is not yet an area of obvious growth in Michigan, custodial contracting is -- and dramatically so. From 2005 to 2006, custodial contracting in Michigan school districts expanded 26 percent from 50 to 63, or from about 9 percent of Michigan districts to 11.4 percent.

The national figure for school custodial contracting is harder to come by, but a 2001 American School & University magazine survey put it at more than 8 percent.

A significant reason why privatization has gained momentum in Michigan -- and will likely continue to do so -- is because of changes in state law since 1994. In light of these incentives, it's important that school districts contract well: