72.028 - The Landscape of Education Policy and Politics in Chicago: Neoliberalism, Race, Resistance, and Justice

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Chicago has been focal point and laboratory for neoliberal education policy and organized resistance, and race, justice, and the right to the city have been central. This symposium critically examines the landscape of education policy and politics in Chicago, highlighting contentious politics of neoliberalism, white supremacy, and urban space, recognizing that schools are central to community heritage and place-making and the quest for justice. The papers examine historical roots of failed school desegregation policies; the political, economic, and social terrain of Chicago’s education agenda; and interrelation of education, housing, and urban development. Commentaries from grassroots leaders extend the analysis. We aim to democratize knowledge through dialogue among researchers and those who experience, challenge, and offer alternatives to dominant policies.

Sub Unit

• Division G - Social Context of Education / Division G - Section 4: Social Context of Education Policy, Politics, and Praxis

Chair

• Pauline Lipman, University of Illinois at Chicago

Papers

• Limits of Desegregation and the Legacy of Segregation in Chicago's Schools - Dionne Danns, Indiana University

• Chicago's Education Landscape: The Politics of State Abandonment and Coercive Governance Meet a Counterhegemonic Movement - Pauline Lipman, University of Illinois at Chicago

• The Intersection of Education, Housing, Urban Development Policy, and Race in Making Chicago's Deepening Divide - Janet Smith, University of Illinois at Chicago

• The Chicago Teachers Union and the Movement for Education and Social Justice in Chicago - Jesse Sharkey, Chicago Teachers Union

• Failed Policies, Destabilization, Disinvestment, and the Necessity for Community-Driven Sustainable School Transformation - Jitu Brown, Kenwood Oakland Community Organization

Discussant

• James D. Anderson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign