When States Take Charge: Not Only a Big-City Reform

• In Event: 69.056 - Roundtable Session 31
  In Roundtable Session: 69.056-7 - The Interplay of Structure, Culture, and Agency in School Choice Policies and Practices

Abstract

Objective
To fix persistently low-performing schools, Ohio state statutes established Academic Distress Commissions (ADC) in 2010. In July of 2015, House Bill 70 enhanced ADC powers, allowing them to hire a district CEO, promote charter schools, and override parts of union contracts (O’Donnell, 2015). Presently, only Youngstown City Schools (YCS) is facing such reforms. YCS experiences challenges typical to those found in other post-industrial cities. First labeled as “low performing” by the Ohio Department of Education in 2010, YCS currently reports a 69% 4-year graduation rate and received a “D” on the most recent state report card. Its economy, built around the steel industry, began a sharp decline starting in the 1970s, and its population has declined by at least 10% in every Census since 1970 (U.S. Census, 2015). Of the 5,000 students enrolled in the district, 98% are eligible for free or reduced price lunch and 85% identify as non-white (Ohio School Report Cards, 2015). Population decline and poverty led to extreme budget instability in the school district. Youngstown therefore offers an informative case with respect to future takeovers—a rare opportunity to study incipient state takeover reforms in a small/mid-size city context.

Fundamental to state takeovers is the shift in governance from the local to the state level. To better inform on state takeovers as a reform strategy, we employ a single-case study design to answer our main research question: How do state takeovers create tensions and/or opportunities with respect to interactions of local and state governments?

Data and Methods
We use an embedded single-case study design, which allows us to provide a thorough and nuanced analysis of events as they occur, to address our research question. We examine intergovernmental relations to better understand state takeover effects by using document analyses of sources such as news reports, budgets, board meeting minutes, organizational reports and memos, and legislative records. We also interview state board members and local Youngstown officials regarding the state takeover. These sources allow us to build a broad understanding of this new policy implementation. This study also analyzes how local and state officials, and the interactions these officials have with one another, perceive this shift. Understanding these relationships and perspectives is vital as educational governance continues to shift over time.

Findings and Significance
The study advances the literature in two areas. First, state takeovers are based on a set of unambiguous goals—improving measurable student outcomes and financial health. However, by solely emphasizing these goals as rationale for takeover, these reforms overwhelm long-held values about local control and minimize various other school purposes. This study examines the shifts created at every level of governance to discern whether, to what degree, and how takeover influences district management and relationships. It also analyzes whether and how takeover reforms changed intergovernmental relations with respect to Youngstown.

Authors

• Andrew Saultz, Miami University - Oxford

• Joel R Malin, Miami University - Oxford

• Jeffrey W. Snyder