Brian Jacob was quoted in a Macomb Daily article about the privatization debate in Oakland and Macomb county schools. To save money, many Michigan school districts are contracting out services such as custodial, food, and transportation. Though the savings with contract employees could be significant—potentially thousands of dollars each year—many are concerned about the quality of service, long-term viability of the contracts, and the school employees who will lose their jobs.
Risk of lower quality is minimized because districts generally contract out only services not directly related to the education of students, Jacob told the Macomb Daily. "People rarely talk about privatizing your third-grade math teacher or privatizing the principal." He went on to explain that the basic economic principle of privatization is redistribution, not elimination, of jobs.