Challenging the market logic of school choice: A spatial analysis of charter school expansion in Chicago

ABSTRACT

Corporate education reformers take for granted that market competition in the public schools system will improve education conditions. We conducted a spatial analysis of Chicago Public Schools, examining the spatial features of charter school expansion in relation to under-18 population decline, school utilization, and school closure locations. Our findings indicate that 69% of new charter schools were opened in areas with significantly declining under-18 population and approximately 80% of charter schools were opened within walking distance of closed school locations. Our findings show, contrary to corporate education reform logic, that a competitive charter school market created spatial and financial inefficiencies resulting in school closures and systemwide budgetary cuts primarily impacting distressed neighborhoods. We explain the overproduction of charter schools through the lens of the firm-like behavior of charter school operators driven by a self-interested growth mandate that can undermine the stability of the public schools system as a whole.

Notes

1. Chicago charter schools are restricted to nonprofit operators in regular K-12 programs. Nonprofit contract schools tend to operate Chicago’s alternative high schools, established for students returning to school after dropping out or being expelled for various reasons.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Roosevelt University (Summer Research Grant).

Notes on contributors

Stephanie Farmer

Stephanie Farmer is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Roosevelt University. Her published research focuses on the financialization of urban infrastructure and the impact of public school reform on school facilities.

Chris D. Poulos

Chris D. Poulos is a PhD student in sociology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His current research examines the role of local state infrastructure projects in shaping real estate markets and contributing to overbuilding crises.

Ashley Baber

Ashley Baber is a PhD student in sociology at Loyola University in Chicago. Her current research examines contingent labor and broader processes contributing to labor market precarity.