Some privatization fails the 'cheaper, better' test
Source: Bill Cotterell, Tallahassee Democrat (FL), February 25, 2008
The whole idea behind privatization is that it's supposed to be cheaper and better than having state employees do something.
Not one or the other, but both. Sometimes, however, it doesn't quite work out that way.
And when that happens, the test of a good administrator is to admit it and try something else. Politically, that's not always easy.
The Department of Veterans Affairs, for instance, wants to take over some staffing at three nursing homes that were opened with private nursing-assistant and kitchen employees during the administration of Gov. Jeb Bush. This is the latest example of something that looked good at the time, but apparently didn't work out precisely as planned.
Bush always advocated the "cheaper and better" idea, but his private-sector background and barely concealed disdain for most things governmental tilted any evaluation toward the outcome he wanted.