How Power Is Negotiated in State Policy Arenas

• In Event: 58.075 - Neoliberal Policy Network Governance and Counternetworks of Resistance: Actions and Reactions From Across Policy Arenas

Abstract

Objectives: The discussion at table two will focus on four papers that investigate the ways that neoliberal policy networks are manifesting at the state level, and impacting the development and evolution of states’ education policies.

Overview of four-paper presentation. These papers explore the role of neoliberal policy networks across several diverse state contexts. The first two papers investigate how changing contextual factors have paved the way for an infusion of new actors into state policymaking. Paper #4 explores the expansion of state-controlled “districts” into Michigan and Tennessee. Through analysis of policy documents, interviews with policymakers, and administrative data, the authors offer a history of the evolution of these governance structures in each state, and reveal the tensions that they raise between local and state control over schools. They highlight the emerging role of non-governmental actors, like philanthropic groups, and the influence that philanthropic dollars held over the development of these governance structures.

Paper #5 explores the evolution of charter school policies in Washington State. The authors examine the emergence of charter policy through the theoretical lens of “borrowing strength.” They examine the ways that federal influence – through the Race to the Top grant competitions – shifted the policy discourse, and propelled charter policies forward in a state that had soundly rejected them multiple times. The authors explore the role that private foundations, like Gates and Walton, played in the latest, and most successful, push for charters in WA, and discuss the growing influence that such non-governmental actors have over a critical policy processes within the states.

The second set of papers presented at this table explore the ways in which actors within neoliberal networks may be influencing state policy processes. In paper #6, the authors examine the policy “stories” surrounding teacher policy reforms – including the elimination of tenure and introduction of performance pay – in Florida. Through analysis of transcripts from legislative hearings and meetings, alongside print media stories, the authors identify the non-governmental actors that took part in the policy debate surrounding teacher reform in the state. Moreover, using a conceptual framework synthesized from the wider literature, they describe the policy narratives constructed by these actors, the implications of these “stories,” and the frames they contain.

Paper #7, similarly, uses innovative methods – including social media analysis – to explore the evolution of political discourse surrounding education in South Carolina. The authors question whether or not the emergence of social media has created new spaces within South Carolina’s “traditionalistic” political culture for new players to shape the narratives surrounding education in the state.

Significance. These papers offer an important view into the development and impact of neoliberal policy networks at the state level – arguably the most important arena in which decisions regarding education are made in the U.S context. Moreover, the findings of these studies raise critical questions regarding the influence that non-governmental actors – in particular, advocacy organizations and philanthropic organizations – exercise over education policy and public schools across the American states.

Authors

• Christopher Harrison, Florida Southern College

• Andrew Saultz, Miami University - Oxford

• Jane Clark Lindle, Clemson University

• Mary L. Mason, Michigan State University