Multiple choice: How public school leaders in New Orleans's saturated market view private school competitors

Abstract

School choice policies, such as charter schools and vouchers, are in part designed to induce competition between schools. While several studies have examined the impact of private school competition on public schools, few studies have explored school leaders’ perceptions of private school competitors. This study examines the extent to which public school leaders in New Orleans, which already has a robust public school choice system, perceived competition with private schools, and the characteristics that predicted competition between the two types of schools. We find that while over half of principals reported competing with private schools for students, there was a wide range of the number and percentage of possible competitors reported. Furthermore, the results suggest that school voucher policies did not play a major role in influencing why schools competed with private schools. In addition, public school leaders who did lose students to private schools through the voucher program reported that they often recouped those losses, when parents returned to public schools unsatisfied or facing additional unexpected costs.

Sociological Contributions to School Choice Policy and Politics Around the Globe: Introduction to the 2020 PEA Yearbook

“…Sociology of organizational behavior and schooling perspectives : These studies draw on new institutionalism to highlight schools as organizations with norms and rituals that shape and guide the practices and behaviors of school actors, including teachers, leaders, and parents. They have also focused on how reforming institutional practices and conditions through school choice policy shapes schooling opportunities and outcomes (Berends, 2015; Berends & Zottola, 2009; Edwards & Hall, 2018; Huerta, 2009; Jabbar & Li, 2016; Lubienski, 2003; Lubienski & Lubienski, 2014; Powers, 2009).…”

A mixed method phenomenological case study of how members of a democratic micro school experience leadership and democratic principles

“…As the United States is ushered into a potential new era of education, one significant concern is the expansion of unregulated school models (Carpenter & Kafer, 2013;Darling-Hammond, 2017;Egalite & Wolf, 2016). With the increase of school options for families, a significant amount of research has focused on how both for profit and not for profit charter schools have influenced the traditional public-school model (Darling-Hammond, 2017;Egalite & Wolf, 2016;Jabbar & Li, 2016;Loeb, Valant, & Kasman, 2011;McShane & Eden, 2015). The shift in the conversation about methods for increasing opportunity and choice has increasingly begun to focus on vouchers.…”