Private actors and public goods: a comparative case study of funding and public governance in K-12 education in 3 global cities

New conceptions of public governance across nations have taken hold globally. In this article, we explore the involvement and expansion of a broad range of actors in public services delivery, beyond the remit of traditional government. While there are common features of this trend, variations reflect the significance of context-sensitive policy, which consider national, state/provincial, and local factors, including governance structures. We report findings from our critical comparative policy analysis, which examines civil society actors as funders of public schooling in Toronto, Canada; Melbourne, Australia; and New Orleans, USA. Specifically, we identify the actors contributing financially to schools in these cities, and the policies that encourage and enable them to take on this new funding role. We highlight similarities and variations between practices and policies in the sites and present factors that give rise to them. We discuss implications of these actors’ participation as funders and implications for democratic education.