From the MBTA’s recent outsourcing of its cash-counting operations to the heavily-funded campaign to lift the cap on charter schools, Massachusetts is witness to a push for greater privatization of services that traditionally have been public, or government-provided. Privatization advocates tout cost-saving efficiencies and higher performance of privately-run services, but experts on a recent panel discussion about privatization in Massachusetts said that evidence for such positive outcomes is lacking and that relinquishing public accountability for essential services is cause for alarm.