School Closure Policy in New York City and the Dismemberment of Local Democracy

• In Event: 52.066 - A Call for Critical Education Policy: Examining Injustice and Advancing Justice in Education

Abstract

In this paper I analyze how the school closing process in New York City in tandem with a larger school governance restructuring served to dismantle local channels for engagement and accountability. I also examine how a citywide parent-led organizing effort built political power to imagine and eventually shape an alternative school improvement framework. The investigator conducted interviews with more than 100 key actors in NYC and observed eighteen months of an anti-school closure campaign.

Author

• Liza Pappas, The New York City Independent Budget Office