Desire for democracy: Perspectives of parents impacted by 2013 Chicago school closings

Abstract

Abstract:In this article, we discuss the historical shifts in the purposes of public education and examine how neoliberal education policies, like Chicago's school closings, attempt to limit the purpose of public education to be in service to and at the whim of the market. We juxtapose this dominant neoliberal narrative of public education with the voices of the parents from closed schools, whose deep involvement with and beliefs about public schools counter neoliberalism's shallow concept of the public purpose of public education. Drawing upon a 2014 qualitative Education Policy Analysis Archives Vol. 25 No. 57 SPECIAL ISSUE 2 study of parents and caregivers who were impacted by school closures and actions, as well as publically available data, we find that parents believe school closings cause great harm to students, families and communities, aim to reduce citizens to consumers in an educational marketplace, and seek to further undermine democracy in education toward a "thin democracy" (Gandin & Apple, 2002) of marketized education. However, we argue that there is an alternative to the neoliberal narrative reflected both in the ongoing historical struggle about the purposes of schooling and in the wisdom, experiences, and desires of parents most directly impacted by neoliberal education policies. Keywords: School closings; neoliberalism; history of education; parent voices Deseo de democracia: Perspectivas de los padres impactados en 2013 cierres escolares de Chicago Resumen: En este artículo, discutimos los cambios históricos en los propósitos de la educación pública y examinamos cómo las políticas educativas neoliberales, como el cierre de las escuelas de Chicago, intentan limitar el propósito de la educación pública para el servicio y el capricho del mercado. Nosotros yuxtaponemos esa narrativa neoliberal dominante de educación pública con las voces de los padres de escuelas cerradas, cuya profunda implicación y creencias sobre escuelas públicas cuestionan el concepto superficial del neoliberalismo del propósito público de la educación pública. En base a un estudio cualitativo de 2014 sobre padres y cuidadores que se vieron afectados por cierres y acciones escolares, así como datos públicamente disponibles, creemos que los padres creen que el cierre de las escuelas causa grandes daños a los e studiantes, familias y comunidades, Ciudadanos a los consumidores Un mercado educativo, y tratan de minar aún más la democracia en la educación para una "democracia delgada" (Gandin & Apple, 2002) de educación comercializada. Sin embargo, argumentamos que existe una alternativa a la narrativa neoliberal reflejada tanto en la lucha histórica en curso sobre los propósitos de la escolaridad como en la sabiduría, experiencias y deseos de los padres más directamente impactados por las políticas de educación neoliberales. Palabras clave: cierre de escuelas; neoliberalismo; historia de la educación; voz de los padres Desejo de democracia: Perspectivas dos pais impactadas em 2013 fechamentos escolares de ChicagoResumo: Neste a...

Rethinking the School Closure Research: School Closure as Spatial Injustice

“…However, residents often argue that these processes for "community input" are performative and that closure decisions are made with little regard for the immediate needs of those communities most affected (Buras, 2015;Freelon, 2018;Pappas, 2016). Most studies describing residents' reactions showed that, even with votes or forums or committees, community members felt excluded from closure and consolidation processes: They did not close their schools-instead, their schools closed on them (Alsbury & Shaw, 2005;Bard, Gardner, & Wieland, 2006;Buras, 2015;Chance & Cummins, 1998;Deeb-Sossa & Moreno, 2016;DeYoung, 1995;DeYoung & Howley, 1990;Ewing, 2018;Freelon, 2018;Gaertner & Kirshner, 2017;Kirshner, 2015;Lincove et al, 2017;Null, 2001;Patterson et al, 2006;Siegel-Hawley et al, 2017;Shiller, 2017;Vaughan & Gutierrez, 2017;. Residents sometimes felt unheard by school boards on the basis of racial discrimination (Briscoe & Khalifa, 2015;Desimone, 1993), and in other instances, residents contended that their schools were "set up" to fail by the district or state, whether due to inadequate resources for students with special education or language needs or to broader funding inequities (Freelon, 2018;Good, 2016;Kretchmar, 2014;Patterson et al, 2006).…”

“…However, one study described students' emotional reactions as "complicated," characterized by both a sense of loss and a feeling of opportunity (Steggert & Galletta, 2018). Several studies investigated the impacts on unstably housed students (Aviles & Heybach, 2017) and students with dis/ abilities (de la Torre et al, 2015;Graham et al, 2014;McMahon, Parnes, Keys, & Viola, 2008;Vaughan & Gutierrez, 2017), finding that these students have unique transportation and staffing needs that are often overlooked with closures.…”

Review of Shuttered schools: Race, community, and school closures in American cities

“…However, according to Duncan-Shippy and colleagues, the far greatest costs of school closures include 1) the breach of public trust, 2) the subsequent threat to democracy, and 3) the continuation and reinforcement of racial and social class divisions. Posturing the closure of an elementary or secondary school as a threat to democracy may seem exaggerated, but others have made similar claims (Kretchmar, 2014;Vaughan & Gutierrez, 2017).…”

The shrinking city school: following trajectories of shrinkage across three decades of an urban school desert

“…However, most community members who have been directly impacted by school closures more commonly describe official request for community input as performative; little regard for the immediate needs of their community is shown across the closure process (Buras, 2015;Freelon, 2018;Pappas, 2016;Tieken & Auldridge-Reveles, 2019). Despite engaging in votes, forums and/ or committees, many community members still walk away from the closure process feeling excluded (Alsbury & Shaw, 2005;Bard, Gardner, & Wieland, 2006;Buras, 2015;Chance & Cummins, 1998;Deeb-Sossa & Moreno, 2016;DeYoung, 1995;DeYoung & Howley, 1990;Ewing, 2018;Freelon, 2018;Gaertner & Kirshner, 2017;Kirshner, 2015;Lincove et al, 2017;Lipman et al, 2014;Null, 2001;Patterson et al, 2006;Siegel-Hawley et al, 2017;Shiller, 2017;Tieken & Auldridge-Reveles, 2019;Vaughan & Gutierrez, 2017;Warner et al, 2011). These feelings of exclusion are often the result of existing racial discrimination (Briscoe & Khalifa, 2015;Desimone, 1993;Tieken & Auldridge-Reveles, 2019) such as the disparate allocation of resources to schools serving majority low-income, ELL, special education student populations (Freelon, 2018;Good, 2016;Kretchmar, 2014;Patterson et al, 2006;Tieken & Auldridge-Reveles, 2019).…”