What enables communities to resist neoliberal education reforms? Lessons from Newark and Camden, New Jersey

Why the Opportunity School District Failed? An Examination of Coalitions and the Politics of School Improvement

“…Although the OSD ballot initiative’s path and outcome were outliers, the OSD campaign featured many elements that likely inform state takeover battles in other places. For instance, similar to New Orleans, Memphis, and Newark, the state takeover ballot initiative in Georgia featured a contentious debate, community resistance, and a wealth of support from out of state actors and coalitions seeking to influence the state takeover policy (Buras, 2015; Danley & Rubin, 2020; Glazer & Egan, 2016, 2018; Jabbar, 2015; Morel, 2018; Russakoff, 2015). The nearly 2-year period spanning the discussion of legislation for a constitutional referendum to the election in November 2016 provides a rich setting to learn more about how (a) diverse coalitions are formed and sustained (examining how coalitions navigate the tensions of breadth and cohesion in the process of coalition building), and (b) the strategies employed by coalitions to influence policy (exploring the process of coalition coordination by identifying strategies perceived as central to the success of the coalition).…”

“…We pay particular attention to the role of race in the coalition building and coordination, given the importance of African American voters to the defeat of the OSD ballot initiative (Welsh et al, 2019a, 2019b). Embedded in the politics of state takeover reforms are important historical, racial, and contextual factors that situate state takeover among neoliberal education reforms in which race and ideology play dominant roles in urban restructuring, particularly Black political representation and control of schools (Danley & Rubin, 2020; Lipman, 2017). Morel (2018) drew attention to the political and racialized motivations underlying state takeovers and found that state takeovers mostly affect politically empowered Black communities, and linked the growth of state takeover to state-level conservative, Republican-led legislatures.…”

“…The majority of studies examining coalitions in education have focused on the interest groups comprising coalitions, the connections among interest groups in a coalition, the interplay of local and national constituencies, as well as the funding of coalitions (Henig et al, 2019; Reckhow et al, 2017; Reckhow & Snyder, 2014; Scott, 2009; Welsh et al, 2019a; Zeichner & Pena-Sandoval, 2015). A handful of studies have examined critical factors in community resistance and how coalitions mobilize in response to neoliberal reforms such as charter schools and state takeover in Oakland, New Jersey, New York City, Chicago, Memphis, New Orleans, and Philadelphia (Ansell et al, 2009; Danley & Rubin, 2020; DeBray et al, 2014; Glazer & Egan, 2018; Lipman, 2017; Scott & Fruchter, 2009; Simon et al, 2017; Welsh, 2019). The coalition-building process or how coalitions navigate the trade-offs between coalition cohesion and coalition breadth has received relatively less attention (Ansell et al, 2009; Glazer & Egan, 2018).…”

“…Several other states are introducing legislation to establish state-run districts but have yet to fully establish any operating state-run school districts (Alvarez, 2016; The Center for Popular Democracy, 2016; Education Commission of the States, 2018; Jochim, 2016; Smith, 2015). Michigan’s Education Achievement Authority was dissolved in 2017 after 6 years of operation, whereas Newark and New Orleans have recently completed the return to local control process (Danley & Rubin, 2020; Glazer & Egan, 2018). Large urban districts and schools primarily attended by low-income and Black students are more likely to be taken over (Morel, 2018; Welsh, 2019; Welsh & Williams, 2018).…”

“…There is limited research on coalitions and political campaigns opposing market-based school improvement policies such as state takeover. We add to a handful of studies that have examined the successes and challenges of how coalitions build civic capacity and navigate the racial and ideological dynamics of urban education reform (Ansell et al, 2009; Danley & Rubin, 2020; Glazer & Egan, 2018). This study offers a granular view of the “behind-the-scenes” work of coalitions.…”