A tightly wound braid: Forces of opportunity and exclusion within an era of school choice legislation

ABSTRACT

We explore longitudinally the spatial dimensions of race and income isolation shaped by a period of accelerated school choice options within and beyond the urban context of a school portfolio system. Three entangled strands within national policy directives offer a conceptual frame for understanding how educational policy is often argued as responsive to equity concerns and is other times embedded in the language of deregulation and efficiency. The focus of the study is the racial and socioeconomic isolation within charter and district schools in Cleveland neighborhoods as well as that of surrounding Cuyahoga County suburbs in Ohio. We consider the implications of this landscape for exacerbating an already problematic context of racial and economic segregation in the state. Drawing on multiple data sources, including historical sources, census tract demographics from the U.S. Census Bureau, Common Core of Data (CCD) available from the National Center of Educational Statistics (NCES), and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), we analyze history, demographic trends, and school facility locations to map the changing urban landscape at a local level at four intervals between 1999 and 2015. The research points to evidence of a movement of bodies and facilities while sustaining race and class stratification.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Elizabeth A. Gilblom

Elizabeth A. Gilblom is an assistant professor in the School of Education in the College of Human Development & Education at North Dakota State University. Her research interests include privatization in education, geographic information systems, and community-based education. Dr. Gilblom received her Ph.D. in urban education with a specialization in adult, continuing, and higher education from Cleveland State University.

Hilla Sang

Hilla Sang is a doctoral candidate in Health Policy and Management at Kent State University’s College of Public Health. She currently works as the Data Visualization and GIS Specialist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Lied Library. Her research interests include spatial analytics, geographic information systems, and health equity.

Jonathan E. Messemer

Jonathan E. Messemer is an Associate Professor of Adult Learning and Development, in the College of Education and Human Services, Cleveland State University. Dr. Messemer also serves on the faculty of the Urban Education Doctoral Studies Program at Cleveland State University with a specialization in adult, continuing, and higher education. His current research interests include: adult literacy, correctional education, adult learning gains, critical theory in adult education, factors influencing teacher decision-making in the prison classroom, college student satisfaction, program evaluation, and survey development. Previously, Dr. Messemer served as a research analysts for the Department of Urology, Indiana University School of Medicine where he co-authored numerous journal articles and book chapters on testicular cancer. Dr. Messemer holds an Ed.D. in adult education from the University of Georgia, an M.A. in adult education from Ball State University, a B.S. in supervision and an A.A.S. in computer technology from Purdue University.

Anne Galletta

Anne Galletta is Professor and Chair of the Department of Curriculum and Foundations in the College of Education and Human Services at Cleveland State University. As a social psychologist, her research interests include the nature of social and structural relations as they relate to equity in education. Dr. Galletta works with educators, youth, and community members in critical inquiry and action on issues affecting neighborhoods and schools. She employs qualitative research methods, with particular strengths in participatory action research, case study, and oral history. Dr. Galletta earned her Ph.D. in Psychology from the Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York.

Rene Molenaur

Rene Molenaur is a policy analyst for the Center for Educational Leadership at Cleveland State University. She is also a coordinator for the Ohio site of the Education Policy Fellowship Program at the Institute for Educational Leadership in Washington, D.C. Her current research interests include: policy implementation, school choice, eLearning, educational leadership, and global human capital trends. Rene holds a B.Ed. from Baldwin Wallace University, a M.Ed. from The University of Akron, and she is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Cleveland State University with a specialization in urban educational policy studies.