Understanding Neighborhood-Based Political Mobilization: Opposition to School Closures in Philadelphia

• In Event: Issues of Segregation and Disproportionality: Examining Patterns, Explanations, and Consequences

Abstract

In recent years, declining enrollment, aging facilities in disrepair, severe fiscal constraints, persistently low achievement, and increased competition with charter schools have led scores of urban districts to close underutilized and underperforming schools. The study described in this proposal examines four Philadelphia neighborhoods to understand the social processes that shape neighborhood-based political mobilization on school closures. Initial analyses point to unambiguous diagnostic and prognostic framing of the school closure issue, and discourse that shifts focus from the closure of a neighborhood’s school to broader, systemic events, as factors that influence the nature and degree of mobilization. The study contributes to political sociology scholarship in urban education by offering insight into the nature of mobilization in school district facility reorganization.

Author

• Rand Quinn, University of Pennsylvania