Charter-ing a Different Course: A Critical Policy Framework to Support Black Women in Marketized Cities and Schools

ABSTRACT

This article features interview excerpts from 10 Black women who worked as educators in marketized cities and schools, including urban charter schools operated by charter management organizations, and independent schools, known as standalone charter schools. Using a critical race policy framework, the article considers the pedagogical implications of race, gender, and power embedded in market policies and which shaped the women’s experiences in their schools. Key dilemmas for the women included: limited resources in district schools, lack of autonomy in privately managed charter schools, and difficulties enacting critical and culturally inclusive pedagogy in market settings premised on individual competition and test score production. As several of the women left their charter schools, or the profession altogether, their experiences map onto larger concerns with Black teacher turnover and decline in urban districts embracing marketization of public schools. The article ends with three broad strategies to support Black women in market settings.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional Resources

1. Septima Clark Learning Center (at Highlander Research and Education Center).

https://www.highlandercenter.org/

This web site features information about the historic Highlander Folk School in Appalachia, a major catalyst in southern freedom struggles for organized labor and civil rights. Black women educators, like Septima Clark and Bernice Robinson, played pivotal roles in organizing citizenship schools across the south, and in hosting popular education workshops at the school for historic figures like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Ralph D. Abernathy, and Myles Horton. The site is regularly updated with current information about workshops and programs that support collective action campaigns for justice and equality. (The Septima Clark Learning Center serves as Highlander’s library and houses its archives)

2. Teachers’ Democracy Project.

http://www.tdpbaltimore.org/

This web site features an organization that uses critical policy approaches to examine critical issues in education in Baltimore, MD. The organization supports teachers, leaders, and community members in education advocacy that builds and sustains just neighborhood schools, including recruitment and retention of Black teachers in Baltimore. The site features a robust collection of articles, policy documents, and curricular resources on a range of topics (e.g., decline of Black teachers, equity in funding, school closings, discipline, etc.)

3. Todd-Breland, E. (2019). A political education: Black politics and education reform in Chicago since the 1960s. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.

In this book, Elizabeth Todd-Breland provides readers with a nuanced and compelling history of political struggles on the part of Black residents and teachers in Chicago for equitable public schools. In many ways, the stories of struggle are portraits of courage and hope, featuring Black women veteran teachers and union leaders who stood against corporate powers and political elites.

Notes

1. All names are pseudonyms.